On a Deviating Path
by mochimogalina
Summary: Portal AU (Human cores): Aperture Science is the forefront of the scientific community testing humans... those with super powered genes that is. Or Deviations, as humans now prefer to call them. In the future an unhappy Deviant takes control of Aperture, a test subject wakes up with a foggy memory, and others lurk around in Aperture's past... (Portal with a twist. All characters!)
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1-**

 _Four Years Previously: Year 2099-_

Doug Rattmann could hear them when no one else could. Flashes of vibrant memories that were not his own. Cries of confusion. Lilting lullabies. At first he believed he was losing his mind. Schizophrenia, they told him.

As a child he had been diagnosed with a special ability that allowed him to communicate with others telepathically. An Anomalous Genetic Deviation, they called it, or simply shortened to deviation. Anyone diagnosed with a deviation was dubbed a 'Deviant'. Doug had never really liked that word. Only 17% of the world's population had the extra DNA sequencing that allowed such... _abilities_ to develop. It wasn't politically correct to call them 'super powers', so the name 'deviation' was used.

He hated it.

It made those with deviations seem like criminals, like something was wrong with them rather than something wonderful. It was a scientific miracle! A complete breakthrough for science and genetics. Yet, the world was skeptical. Humans with deviations were outcasted, despised, and envied. What human wouldn't wish for such a wonderful gift?

Well, Doug Rattmann was one of them. He loathed his deviation with a passion. Glimpsing the minds of your fellow human beings was never something he had signed up for. And he had certainly never signed up for this.

He skidded down the hallway, his shoe marking a black scuff along the white tile floor. _I'm in here. Storage locker 55E. You're almost there, Doug._

Doug Rattmann had worked at Aperture Science for nearly thirty years. He had originally signed on in order to study his deviation in further detail. Aperture Science prided themselves on the advanced study of science, genetics, and the development of deviations. They worked with children, adolescents, and adults who developed or possessed the gene for a deviation. At least that was their marketing strategy.

Aperture Science had been around for almost 150 years. In the mid-1900's, they had been founded on a basis of innovation and invention, but in the background they studied the newly developed Deviant community. Back in those days they called them super powers, plain and simple. Just like the comic books.

Aperture studied people with deviations, testing them in various ways. They learned how to apply them in unique situations, eventually mastering the various types. Then they copied them.

Scientists were able to develop a way to create a gene mutation sequence that would give those without deviations the ability to use one for a temporary period of time. At first the entire operation was illegal and highly monitored. Messing around with the genetic code of human beings was downright immoral, dangerous, and many times lethal. People would insert a temporary gene mutation to give themselves a two day period of invisibility, telepathy, or enhanced strength. If it didn't kill them, it usually gave them permanent damage in some form or another. Constantly taking samples from subjects, especially those with high-demand abilities was taxing, and posed risks to them as well.

Despite publicly denouncing this practice and keeping up a front of pure scientific research, Aperture Science continued in their scientific 'progress' and study of deviations up until Rattmann's day. Although in his time the majority of the human population no longer cared what was done to Deviants. It was a widespread (and still illegal) practice in the year 2103 to share deviations and splice DNA for some temporary fun. To get a chance to have some super human abilities, even if for an hour.

 _Nothing super about it,_ Doug mused. The whole thing was disgusting and he couldn't help but feel abhorrent about his choice of a career. He loved to study deviations and the science behind them. Yet his job proved too much for his conscience to take... eventually he just tuned it out. Focus on the science.

So he did. He ignored the test subjects taken against their will. Test subjects with deviations who had been discovered by the wrong person wanting to make a quick buck. He ignored the countless deaths at the hands of scientists and testing chambers. He ignored the black market dealings of DNA sequencers that ultimately caused bodily harm to the user. He found it easy to ignore it all. The science is all I'm here for. It had become a three-decade long mantra of his.

But the consequences had eventually caught up with him. Two years before this very moment, Doug had been getting strange glimpses. Whisperings around the corner that were not typical of the normal Aperture employees. At first he ignored them. Probably some weird test subject that just got here. They'd go away eventually.

They didn't. The whispers became voices that became screams that became full-blown shattered renditions of memories. After a couple weeks of this constant bombardment, he couldn't focus on his work. The voices screamed at him, completely nonsensical. Against his better judgment, he got himself screened and was told he had developed Schizophrenia. Ridiculous. Apparently the years of subtle telepathic touches had slowly driven him to a schizophrenic state. Nothing some medication wouldn't cure.

Of course the medication did nothing to ease his problem. It only escalated the fragile state of his mind. Yet somehow Doug had become really good at covering his tracks. He was an excellent scientist and could deliver outstanding results. There was no way he was going to risk becoming non-essential and handing himself over to the testing tracks himself.

Nearly seven months previously, Doug had finally found the solution to his problem. If you could call it a solution, that is. It was more like a horrific discovery that had only worsened what he thought was his mind losing touch. The memories had been real. The voices had been real. They were genuinely talking to him because they knew he could hear them.

Nobody else could.

Doug found the cubes in a storage locker. They were a new batch that he had never seen before. Unlike the normal testing cubes with the iconic Aperture symbol on each side, these sported bright pink hearts. They were supposed to appear cute, but they only added to the horror of what each of them held inside.

Each cube held a fragment of what was left of a human mind. They were from a discarded project that had entailed downloading human synapses into an artificial intelligence. The project had gone horribly wrong and was discarded after about a year. The storage room was full of them.

Doug had sunk to his knees and cried. He hugged the box who had led him there, cherishing each memory it could deliver to him. The cube itself didn't seem to understand his distress. In fact, it was just happy to have someone else to talk to! Before someone came to check on what he was doing, he had grabbed the cube and shoved it above the ceiling tiles. He would keep that one safe. _I'll come back for you,_ he had promised it.

A couple scientists had noted his entry into the abandoned cube storage room and came up with a brilliant plan to add the cubes to the arsenal of boxes already in the testing chambers. As far as they were concerned, the cubes were complete failures. They were quickly dubbed 'Companion Cubes' and were emptied out into the testing tracks. Doug hid his chagrin and ignored the cubes' quiet questions and chattering nonsense. He took a small amount of comfort in his friendly companion cube resting above the ceiling. No one would ever know it was there except for him.

And that was who Doug was listening to now. He listened for his cube, following her instructions as he focused on not falling to complete and utter panic. _I'm in here._

He bolted into the storage locker, taking deep breaths of less tainted air. He fell to his knees and hugged his cube tightly, trying to keep his nerves under control. _Relax. You're not going to die today, Doug. I think there are some gas masks under those boxes back there. That's why you're here, right?_

Doug only nodded, still gasping for air. The neurotoxin levels outside were crowding the facility. He had only heard an alarm sound just minutes previously when someone had screamed that they were trapped inside. The scientists were in complete panic. Nobody knew what was going on.

Doug had noticed the neurotoxin leaking from the pipes and ran in the opposite direction where he knew some gas masks were, along with his hidden cube. Thinking about it made him feel incredible guilt. _I could've told them where to go. But I panicked and ran for my life. They don't even know these are here,_ he lamented to his cube silently.

 _It's not your fault. Neurotoxin kills within minutes. You didn't have time to spare... those are scientists out there, Doug. Like you. They'll find a way to survive._

His cube always knew the right things to say, but Doug couldn't help but feel complete dread. Who had activated the neurotoxin? Those systems had been shut down years and years before. They had only been there as a safety precaution back during the... alien...issues. He still silently wondered if those stories had been truly accurate. The system should've been completely worn down and useless. In fact, none of them had ever been trained to deal with this type of emergency.

But someone had activated it. The entire facility was in lock-down, trapping all of them inside. _Who did this?_

Doug snapped on the gas mask and fell limply against his cube in both relief and trepidation. The neurotoxin wouldn't kill him now, but something else might try to finish the job.

So he hid. He crawled up through the circulation vent behind empty boxes and hid behind the walls of Aperture. He watched through the cracks as his coworkers and the test subjects fell unconscious and slowly suffocated to death in a sea of deadly neurotoxin. It was beyond horrific.

He cried silently as he felt each of their thought processes tune out, one after the other. Who did this?

An angry test subject?

Could it really have been a faulty system activating after many many years?  
Suddenly he heard a voice in his mind, chastising itself harshly. _Who is that?_  
 _Douglas, Professor Rattmann, is that you?_ The voice asked in a clearer tone.

It was Henry. _Henry, are you ok? I'm inside the wall behind you._

 _No, no I'm not... I can't move. I know I'm going to die... are you ok?_

 _Doug was chilled. Yes, I found a gas mask. I was hiding here. Henry, I'm so sorry._ Doug stifled a sob just in case anyone was out there with the dying scientist.

 _Douglas! Doug, before I go, you need to know..._

Oh lord. Henry knew who was behind this, didn't he?

 _It was Her, Douglas. None of us saw this coming... I'm the one who should be sorry. She was my charge and I didn't see it. I should have and I should have stopped her. This was my fault, so do not blame yourself for surviving this. Stay alive and get out of here, Professor Rattmann. Good... good luck..._ His telepathic link was fading rapidly.

Doug sat in silence as his workmate faded away. He had known Henry Cadwin as long as he had worked at Aperture. Now he was gone. They could all be gone.

Doug Rattmann clutched his cube and found solace in little nooks and crannies found behind Aperture's walls. He listened for clues, listened for voices of the survivors.

There hadn't been any.

After nearly fifteen hours of searching, his hope faded away. _You're going to survive this for them. You'll find a way out. Don't lose your hope, Doug!_

He sat grimly in a small den he had found. Some old cans of paint were lying around, and he grabbed them with newfound resolve. He dunked his entire hand in the blue paint and started splashing it against the wall. Then the orange... then the white.

 _What are you doing?_ His cube queried.

 _You are right; I am going to survive this._ After an hour of ferocious spattering and splashing, he was covered head to toe in dripping paint along with the wall in front of him. Before him was a gestural rendering of a young female with long white hair. One hand splashed with blue, representing neurotoxin. The other arm dripping in orange, representing the blood of the countless who were needlessly slaughtered that day. Black engulfed the backdrop and flowered where her heart was located.

Glados did this. He was not going to forget what had happened here.

 _I'm going to survive it for them._

* * *

 _Hey everyone, it's time for the dreaded author's note! I promise they won't all be this long, but I've gotta explain a few things... :) First, thanks for reading the first chapter of my fanfic. This is my first time posting one, so I apologize in advance if I don't seem to know what I'm doing on here yet, haha._

 _I started writing this story months ago, and the entire thing is mapped out in ideas until I write it out (the story is complete, so I'm not making it up as I go chapter by chapter...). I've been hesitant to post it because one, it's kinda nerve-wracking putting your words and ideas out there for others to judge as they please, and two, I'm a perfectionist and I'm never going to be perfectly happy with it._

 _Anyway, this story is obviously a Portal AU where the characters we all know and love are humanized in a dystopian-like future where humans have developed super powers they dubbed 'Deviations' (sounds way cooler than powers... just sayin'). I know it probably sounds off the wall and you're probably like, 'Nope', but I wanted to try something fresh and new (since the majority of fanfiction for Portal I've seen are all pretty much the same concepts over and over...). Not that those aren't good, of course. I just wanted to try something different. :)_

 _What's in the story? You'll see all the official Portal characters of course. I've also included many characters from Harry Callaghan's 'Meet the Cores' series (you'll get plenty of Virgil, I promise). So if that's not your cup of tea, then I apologize. There will be no ships, as I want to prove that you can write a good story without romance. Believe me, it can be done. However, if you wanna look at different interactions between characters as something you'd rather believe, go on right ahead. I'm only throwing it out there now that it was not written with any ulterior motives in mind. ;) This story will be clean (respectfully, no cursing please... I appreciate it!)_

 _I also apologize if the story starts off slow. I wanted to stick to the original plot of Portal and then base my story off of that. It will be very similar at first, but I promise you it will take off later._

 _I hope I covered everything (probably too much). But I appreciate all your feedback and comments. I would appreciate any constructive criticism, as I have no idea how my writing will appear to others. If I have any weird writing quirks that annoy you, please let me know. I want to write something that is pleasant to read... :) And if you spot any typos or grammatical errors, please alert me to those as well. Thanks so much! I hope you guys enjoy this story as much as I'm enjoying writing it! I hope that posting what I have so far will inspire me to continue writing it (I've kinda hit a writing block recently... just need a little more motivation I suppose). Enjoy!_

 _*Disclaimer: I do not own Portal... obviously. And Harry Callaghan owns his own characters._

 _-Moe_


	2. Chapter 2

**Present Day - Four Years Later: Year 2103 -**

Doug Rattmann hid from Her for four years. He kept his pocket watch on him, tabulating the countless hours spent in his dens. He would paint to keep the suffocating silence and fear at bay. He never gave Her a reason to search for him.

But he couldn't leave. Aperture Science had efficiently been cut off from the outside world. The air circulated itself over and over again, sometimes making him want to run screaming to Glados, just to end it all. He wanted to confront her. Ask her how she felt about what she did. Was she happy now?

Yet, he already knew.

Glados had created a couple of cooperative AI robots to toy with, constantly testing them with Aperture's signature portal technology and sassing them. She would often speak of her hatred of other humans in her lilting, melodious voice. They were like her sound board for her years of anger and resentment she had built up.

Humans were dirty. They were stupid and dull-witted.

Doug sorely wanted to remind her of her own humanity. Apparently she didn't count in her own personal human grudge. He had to agree with her there.

He didn't understand her either. Doug had known Glados for her entire 24-year old life. She had been raised in Aperture, used for her incredibly rare gift. _The Intelligence deviation._

People with this kind of deviation had short lifespans. They would die out young, some on purpose, some not. The human brain just wasn't built to run so on so many neurological tracks at once. Glados was the exception, so they couldn't let her go.

Well that certainly worked out for them, hadn't it?

As much resentment as he had for her, a small part of him knew what had driven her to that edge. But he would never accept it. What she had done was monstrous. An atrocity.

She had always been withdrawn, only speaking when spoken to. She obediently worked on the various tasks handed over to her. The scientists would watch her work with quiet admiration and envy. She outclassed them all in so many ways. In fact, Aperture Science would never have achieved so much these past years without her.

Though Glados had always made him uncomfortable. Even at a young age she would stare right through you with her frightening golden eyes, piercing your very soul, as if she knew every little pathetic primitive thought that popped into your brain. She toyed with theories beyond the scientists' own understanding, scaring them to no end. She had to be monitored at all times, her personal experiments put to an abrupt halt. He didn't think an ounce of empathy had ever existed in her heart. It wasn't written in her DNA.

That's why they shouldn't have been surprised by the attack. She could've been planning the incident for months, and no one would have suspected. Except possibly Henry. He had been fundamental in Glados' growth and education. Yet even he hadn't seen the extreme lengths she was about to go to in order to obtain her sick, personal sense of freedom.

As if being trapped alone in an abandoned underground facility for the rest of your life could give anyone a sense of freedom. Apparently it worked for her just fine.

It certainly didn't suit Doug. He wanted out. He could feel himself losing to his decaying mind as he rotted away inside the walls of Aperture. His dens grew smaller and security cameras lurked in every corner. He was stuck.

On every anniversary of the incident, Doug would sit behind the very wall he had had Henry's last conversation with. When he peeked through the cracks weeks after the incident, he had realized it was a stasis chamber room full of pods of sleeping test subjects. It gave him small comfort to know these humans were alive. At least he desperately hoped so.

For possibly the hundredth time, Rattmann eyed the one security camera watching the stasis chamber room. He had wished to himself many times that he could just get in there. Check the humans. See if they were alive. He would dream of talking to other people again, even if for a few minutes.

But if he entered that room, Glados would be on him in seconds. She controlled the entire mainframe after all.

So Doug sat and wished.

He wished to be back in his apartment. He wished to live among the people again, something his twenty-year old self would've balked at. He wished someone with more courage than he would come and dish out the justice Glados deserved. Someone...

 _Hold on._

His eyes locked onto a solitary stasis pod among the rows of upright pods. He knew that girl. Those tanned features... the permanent mark of resolve on her face. Doug had never looked into the pods before. He shoved down his excitement as an idea welled in his brain.

 _How did she get in there? She wasn't a test subject..._

It didn't really matter. He had been given a precious gift.

Hope.

For the first time in four years, Doug grinned. He had a plan. Albeit, an unorthodox one that could very well fail. But it was better than nothing and it required courage on his part at this very moment.

Before he could talk himself out of it and use his logical thinking skills, Doug pushed open the panel, knocking it to the floor and made a mad dash to the computer terminal controlling the stasis pods.

As he unplugged the computer from the mainframe and booted it up, he spared a glance at the security camera, waiting for Glados' biting voice over the loudspeakers. As the computer turned on and he logged in, he realized nothing had changed. No alarms. No voices. Nothing.

He turned to the camera with skepticism. It wasn't even on.

After these last four years, the stasis room had been unmonitored. He laughed out loud, his voice rusty with disuse. Glados hadn't kept up the system in the stasis chamber because there was nothing to monitor. The humans couldn't wake up on their own and there was no one to break into the room. If his relief hadn't been so palpable, he would have cried at the years of lost opportunity.

 _No more time to waste. It's time to get to work_. He accessed the stasis pod holding the girl and made a few fundamental changes. Such as an alarm clock. _Rise and shine, sleeping beauty._

There were so many risks he was taking by implementing this plan, but it was all that he had. If Glados finds a human was awakened by a computer fault, she might test her for fun, or she would dispose of her. He was willing to bet that Glados wouldn't let this opportunity go to waste. She would test the girl, then throw her into the incinerator. And Doug Rattmann knew that this particular woman would not go down without a fight. She wasn't your average test subject. In fact...

She wasn't even a test subject. Oops. Glados would access her databanks and find out who the girl was within seconds. Then she would outright kill her.

No. She wasn't going to find out. Doug threw open a blank testing document and filled it out with the subject's information. Fortunately, the genetic reader in the pod said the girl had a deviation, otherwise the plan wouldn't have worked. Glados would never test an ordinary human. It would be a waste of her time. Although, Doug wasn't sure what the girl's deviation even was. She possessed the gene sequence for one, but he had never known it was there. It had probably been redacted from official records like many Deviants had done.

Doug shrugged to himself. As long as the sequencing was there, this would be just fine. He filled in some false information. He typed her first name, then:

 _Surname: [Redacted]_  
 _Date of birth: 11/02/2077_  
 _Deviation: Unknown. RNA factor F4_  
 _Date of acquirement: 3/16/2097_  
 _Notes: Good health. Athletic. Recommendation: Portal testing._

Satisfied with his mock-up, he gave the mark of approval and submitted it into the system. Glados would be sure to test this one. She couldn't resist a good challenge.

He turned to the girl resting peacefully within the stasis pod. He felt a wave of guilt for doing this to her, but she was his last chance. Not to mention her own. If anyone was going to win their freedom, it would be her.

Doug knew that if he himself had tried to take down Glados' control, it would've ended with her stamping him out and tossing him into the incinerator. She would have been on him in a heartbeat. But _Her..._

The countdown started and the stasis hummed with newfound activity and input from the system.

"Okay, I have to go now," he spoke softly to the girl. "I'll keep an eye on you. Don't worry; you aren't alone."

He slipped into his little alcove in the wall and picked up the panel to replace it.

"I am really sorry about this, Chell."

* * *

 _More Doug Rattmann... Sorry if the chapters are a bit short. I'll probably upload multiple at a time, so that should make up for it. ;)_


	3. Chapter 3

Glados tapped her fingers lightly against the armrest of her metal throne in amusement. The Atlas testing A.I., nicknamed blue, had accidentally portalled an Aperture Testing Cube straight above his orange co-op partner, P-Body. The cube fell from such an enormous height that it crushed the small testing robot into a million pieces.

 _About 482 pieces, to be exact._ She mentally activated the controls to reassemble the fallen robot, simultaneously recording and filing away the security footage for later entertainment. She had quite the growing collection of mishaps to re-watch if she ever felt bored.

"Blue, that was absolutely atrocious," she scolded him, running her thin fingers through her incredibly long, white hair. The round robot bounced in agitation at the rebuke as a newly assembled P-Body jogged into the testing track. "You only managed to break your partner into 482 pieces this time. Honestly, I thought I taught you better than that." Atlas and P-Body tittered nervously, then performed an excruciatingly human high-five gesture.

Glados pinched the bridge of her nose. The robots were hopeless. Truly. But they were hers.

She mentally switched off the viewing screens and deactivated the two A.I.s before they could do any more damage to each other. The pale slight girl jumped down from her perch high in the mainframe's wiring, her long-fall boots reverberating slightly as she hit the floor. She could have easily lowered the seat to a safer height, but she relished the feeling of satisfaction each time her invention held up in action.

As a child she had become sick and tired of test subjects flailing through portals like fish out of water, only to meet an unfortunate, crashing fate as gravity took hold. The portal testing tracks had been much more limited back then, but she had seen their potential and she grabbed onto it. Glados developed the long-fall boots in order to keep test subjects safe from ridiculously high heights. As long as they landed on their feet, that is.

Not that she actually cared what happened to the test subjects. The majority of them met their end in some way or another, but developing the boots allowed the portal testing initiative to take off like it never could before. Portals quickly became the standard test medium used at Aperture Science. She was quite proud of it.

So she wore her own version of the long-fall boots as a trophy of sorts. They were slightly shorter than the standard pair issued to test subjects and were a sleek dark gray. Glados had remained fairly short in stature, at 5'3", and had been able to wear her boots from the age of ten onward.

The scientists told her she looked ridiculous wearing them all the time, therefore she kept them on just to be spiteful. They'd be sorry if a panel suddenly opened up underneath them and they plummeted miles to their deaths. Who'd be laughing then?

She shook her head, aggravating her growing headache slightly. Chiding herself, she switched off her control of the facility's mainframe and left it to the auto-pilot program she had designed. The auto-pilot wasn't as high-functioning as keeping herself connected, but it kept essential systems running and allowed her to have a mental rest. Staying connected too long gave her migraines, so she'd force herself to go do something else.

Switching off the manual control required tapping the side of the cerebral implant at her temple. Aperture scientist Henry Cadwin had designed the implant when she was a child, keeping her brain from overloading from the stress her deviation caused it. She was grateful to him for it, but that was where she drew the line. He had done it in the name of science, not to help the little girl.

 _There I go again, thinking about the trash that used to inhabit this place. Ugh._  
Before she had taken control of the facility four years previously, she had spent countless months designing the new Aperture Science mainframe and control center. She had linked it to her own implant, giving her and only her complete access. It was done on the side, the calculations completed on a small computer she hijacked and kept off-network. Nobody had any clue of the massive takeover she had been planning.

She recalled accidentally frying the implant a few times while in the testing stages, having to quickly repair it before anyone took note or any long-lasting damage was done. She tossed out the memory and took off for the hydroponics lab to acquire her dinner.

Her golden eyes flicked back as a warning signal flashed and her screens reactivated themselves. "What the...?" Her dinner was going to have to wait, apparently. She turned the manual control of the mainframe back on and used the raising platform to reach her perch again. This was the first time since the turret production explosion a year before that she had received any warning signal at all. What was it this time?

Glados used an interactive holographic display panel to locate what had alerted the system. No explosions, no backups, no... wait, what?

She activated a security feed from the waiting rooms. A pod was currently being reactivated... with a human test subject.

"Excuse me? I did not ask you to wake up _any_ one," she growled at the computer. "There must be a glitch in the system somewhere... I suppose I'll be running diagnostics tonight." She hovered her finger over the cancel command, but froze in thought.

 _I haven't tested anything other than Blue and Orange in so long... this might be a nice break in routine after all._ As much as Glados loathed the thought of interacting with another person again, she also couldn't resist the idea of testing one. There was a sort of... _thrill_ in testing a human in potentially deadly situations. You never knew what they were going to do. The deviations they could exhibit. Since she had turned sixteen, the scientists had placed her in charge of guiding test subjects through the testing tracks. She had found quite a bit of enjoyment in it.

"All right, I think I'll let this one wake up, but _just_ this one... in the name of science." She pulled up the test subject's information and used the pod's measurements reader to calculate the size of the clothing needed. The woman in the pod was surprisingly fit and healthy. Most test subjects had been taken off the streets, in back alleys, people with deviations who had been on the run. She briefly wondered how this one had been acquired, then realized she didn't particularly care.

Robotic arms dropped from the ceiling in the waiting chamber and dropped the correctly apportioned clothing and long-fall boots next to the stasis pod. Then it was a waiting process. The stasis pod had actively been keeping this particular subject alive for six years now. The longer a subject was in a pod, the longer it took to wake them up. She calculated she had about twenty-seven minutes to place the process on auto-pilot, grab a quick bite to eat, and be back after the subject had finally realized they needed to dress themselves.

Many subjects in the past had given her trouble and refused to put on their testing uniform. It was all a mental game. So she refused to have any communication with them until they did something about it. She wouldn't say a word until a subject was fully dressed, waiting for someone to tell them what was going on. It always worked in the end.

A couple stubborn subjects had refused to do anything for multiple days before they just couldn't take it any more. Usually the idea that they might be given food or water was enough for a subject to break down and don the stupid uniform.

After her allotted twenty-seven minutes Glados returned to her seat and reactivated the viewing screen and again pulled up the subject's information. Her name was Chell [Redacted]. It wasn't uncommon for names to be incomplete, so she didn't at all care about the missing information. It wasn't like she was going to use the woman's name anyway, as she never had in the past. They were simply test subjects.

She was slightly perturbed by the fact that the sheet did not list the subject's deviation. It had happened before, but she liked to know ahead of time what to expect from a subject. She had designed special chambers specifically for certain types of deviations. _How annoying._

Glados glanced at the viewing screen and was slightly startled to find the woman standing in the middle of her waiting cubicle, fully dressed and ready to go. It wasn't the fact that she was ready to begin, but the fact that she was staring so intently at the security camera. It was if she was challenging Glados with her gray-eyed gaze, like she could see right through the camera. _Oh yes, this is going to be fun._

* * *

 **Approximately 27 minutes prior-**

 _"Hello, and welcome to the Aperture Science Testing Facility and Enrichment Center. You have been selectively hand-picked for an exciting new series of tests that will benefit science and help humanity shape the future! Congratulations!"_

Chell opened her eyes blearily and gave a half-hearted glare at whoever had rudely awakened her.

 _"You have been in stasis for fou- bzzt - six years, three months, two days, fourteen h-"_

 _For the love of- keep it down will you? People are trying to sleep h-_ _stasis_? She bolted up into sitting position and slammed her head against the top of the stasis pod. Her eyes darted around the inside of the small prison as her brain finally kicked into gear. _Why... why am I in a stasis pod?_ she rubbed her aching head, trying to quell her rising panic.

 _"Please remain in the horizontal position as the stasis pod unlocks and completes a complimentary physical checkup. Side effects of prolonged stasis may involve vertigo, amnesia, blindness, deafness, abdominal cramps, permanent brain damage, or heart failure,"_ the male announcer's voice cheerily listed.

Chell rolled her eyes as the pod's hatched top opened up and she sat back into full sitting position. She certainly felt normal; well, as normal as you could be while waking in a strange pod without retaining any actual memory of getting there in the first place.

 _"You may now exit the stasis pod. Your physical checkup has passed the minimum safety requirement for testing-"_

 _Minimum?_

 _"Please don the Aperture Science testing uniform provided for you and wait for an Aperture Science testing associate for further instructions. Thank you and have a nice day. Enjoy your testing experience!"_

 _Aperture Science? What is going on here?_ Chell grabbed the top garment, a white tank top bearing the Aperture Science logo and examined it. _I don't... I don't understand._ She couldn't for the life of her remember how she had ended up in there. She vaguely remembered a boring two-hour drive in the pouring rain, and then... nothing. Just this.

 _Maybe I do have amnesia. Selective amnesia, that is._ She side-eyed the offending stasis pod with as much derision as she could muster and grudgingly donned her uniform. The tank top was similar to an Aperture Laboratories t-shirt she wore at home. After all, she had been here many times before.

But Aperture Science Laboratories was, well, a science facility. Not a human testing ground! There weren't any stasis pods, creepy cheery announcers, or orange jumpsuits... She wrinkled her nose at the hideous orange jumpsuit. It would have to go.

Chell settled with tying the top half around her waist and she reached down to strap the strange-looking boots provided for her. _Ugh. It's like a refrigerator tried to become a high-heeled fashion disaster._ She bounced experimentally on her heels as they gave slightly to her motions. _Weird._

Chell looked irritably at her bedraggled reflection in the stasis pod. Her tanned skin contrasted deeply with the white atmosphere, making her feel more insecure. She whipped her long chestnut hair into a ponytail and crossed her arms as she waited for more information. It wasn't as if she could call for help.

The twenty-six year old woman had been born with paralyzed vocal cords, rendering her completely mute. Her DNA coding also suggested she possessed a deviation, but she had never exhibited one to her knowledge. As a result, her father had become overly protective, revising and hiding Chell's medical history and genetic factors on paper. To the outside world, she was a deviationless nobody who couldn't speak a word.

Her father felt that too much contact with people was dangerous, so he shielded her from society as best he could. He home-schooled her (top-notch education, as he was a 'genius'), provided everything for her, and even taught her his own version of sign language that was strictly between the two of them. As Chell reached adulthood and eventually pulled away from her father's loving embrace, she picked up some standard ASL so she could get some communication across. This was all to her father's chagrin, but he let her have her space. She wasn't in any danger since she had no deviation. Chell was a nobody.

And that was perfectly fine with her. Deviations were nothing more than a horrible plague on mankind. Her father would rant for hours on the Deviant crisis and how society was breaking down because of them. Yes, the science behind the genetics was fascinating, but incredibly dangerous. Deviants were hunted down and used for their powers, so he kept her close to him.

Chell felt a slight pang as she thought of her father. Where was he now? If he found out that she was about to go through some lab testing after being shoved in a stasis pod, the people behind this would have another thing coming... She glared straight at the security camera, setting her face into 'confident' mode. She would show no weakness.

Chell was going to get to the bottom of this.

 _"Hello, and again, welcome to the Aperture Science Testing Facility. You will be performing a series of tests with prototype technology that few humans have come into contact with. Your results will be collected and used to benefit the cause of science. Thank you for your voluntary participation,"_ a female voice smoothly recited over the speaker system, sounding slightly robotic.

Chell resisted the impulse to raise her eyebrow. Voluntary participation? _Yeah right._ She kept her face impassive, not giving anything away. She had always had the best poker face, her father had told her on many occasions.

 _"Subject number 9992056, please exit the waiting chamber. A portal will open up in 3, 2, 1..."_ A large opening appeared at the back left of the waiting chamber against the wall. Chell kept her face a mask, although she was startled by its sudden appearance.

 _What in the world...?_ The large oval hole in the wall was completely unnatural, unlike anything Chell had ever encountered before. The woman over the loudspeaker had called it a 'portal'. It glowed a brilliant blue around the edges, straight from something out of a science fiction movie. She quelled her excitement as she passed through the portal, putting on an air of apathy.

She had been so busy staring at the portal in the glass chamber that she hadn't noticed the one that had opened up on the wall outside the chamber. Chell was startled to find herself staring into the glass chamber she had just been in, while staring at her back through the opposite portal.

 _Oh my..._ she turned around and went back through, again facing her own back in an orange-tinted portal outside the chamber. _This is so impossible. But it's so amazing._ She squinted slightly while staring at her backside. _This jumpsuit makes my behind look huge._

She had to resist the urge to giggle at the strangeness of it all. As interesting as this technology was, she was in no mood to be somebody's lab rat. What was the point of all of this?

 _"Please exit the waiting room using the Aperture Science Weighted Storage Cube,"_ the woman's voice recited. Chell honestly couldn't tell if the voice was pre-recorded or not.

She picked up the gray cube which had dropped in the corner (it was surprisingly light), and dropped it on the huge red button in the corner of the room. A trail of blue lights led to the only door, turning orange as the button activated. The door opened with a whooshing sound and a large check mark glowed next to it. _What kind of testing is this?_

 _"Congratulations. Please exit through the Aperture Science Emancipation Grill into the elevator. The Aperture Science Emancipation Grill will deconstruct any unauthorized Aperture Science testing equipment. Please do not carry any unauthorized equipment through the Emancipation Grill,"_ the voice droned on.

Chell resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the overuse of wording. It was as if they were purposefully trying to antagonize the test subjects.

She eyed the cube, sorely tempted to grab it and take it through the force field-looking barrier. She again resisted her impulse and headed to the elevator. _Alright, I'll play your little game. If only to get some answers around here._

* * *

Glados watched the test subject from her perch in the control hub, scanning the apathetic mask for any signs of emotion. The girl was good, Glados had to admit. She didn't display any fear, boldly traversing to the elevator onto the challenges that lie ahead. She had barely blinked when the portals opened up. It was probably the most disappointing reaction to the portal technology she had witnessed.

Glados decided to be annoyed by the girl's lack of emotion. If she couldn't get a reaction from her now, it would certainly come later. Glados smirked as she opened up the channel to communicate with her new test subject.

"Test subject number 9992056," Glados had chosen a random number, because, why not? "You will now begin a series of tests utilizing the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device located in the center of a room. Please do not drop your Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, immerse it in liquid, or look at the operational end of the Device." Glados loved to overuse the technological terms, as it grated on test subject's nerves, not to mention the nerves of any scientists who had previously sat in with her. Most people simply referred to it as a 'Portal Gun'.

She watched as the test subject tested out the portal gun, shooting at various surfaces around the room. Some surfaces allowed portals to open up, while some did not. The Quantum Tunneling Device, as Glados loved to call it, was finicky like that.

She leaned forward with curiosity. This test subject was smart. She was testing the device ahead of time. Most subjects picked up the device with a flummoxed expression, deep stupidity lining their faces.

Once the test subject had finished, she used the device to portal herself out of the room, an orange portal already set on the outside. This particular device only allowed the test subjects to use one portal at a time. It helped ease them into the testing process. Glados always found this part so mundane.

She watched as the girl solved a couple more practice tests with ease. "Congratulations. Now that you seem to have a handle on the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, you may now pick up your Aperture Science Handheld Duel Portal Device," she recited. This is where the fun would begin.

The test subject walked through the emancipation force field and her single portal device was fizzled out of existence. She walked to the next portal device spinning in the middle of the room, picking it up to examine it. The girl tested it out a few times and again took off for the next test.

"Now that your pre-testing is finished, you will go through a series of 19 tests involving the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device," Glados spoke, "You have finished the pre-testing slightly faster than any pre-recorded test subject. You must be the pride of test subject's hometown here." You couldn't show that you differentiated test subjects, after all. "After the all Aperture tests are completed, cake will be served."

A few tests in, Glados was getting bored. The girl was breezing through the testing tracks efficiently, like a machine. She hadn't even showed any signs of a Deviation... how tedious. As the girl exited test chamber six, Glados perked up when she realized what lie ahead in chamber seven. Maybe she'd see something new.

* * *

Chell thought she was getting the hang of this testing thing. She would scan a room and figure out the puzzle, place her portals in the correct position, and jump. Easy. Although if you miscalculated you could easily fall into a vat of acidic something or other... she'd have to be careful.

The first time she fell through a much higher portal than anticipated, she had braced herself for a painful, bone-breaking landing. However, as she landed on her feet, the boots she was wearing activated some kind of inertia dampening technology... it was as if she had jumped a few inches in the air. These boots were fantastic.

 _I changed my mind... I may wear you forever. Who cares if you look like a refrigeration unit?_

She jumped through some higher portals, testing the boots height capacity. So far so good. Chell guessed she could literally fall a mile and be okay, but she wasn't going to risk that any time soon.

Strolling into test chamber seven, Chell was beginning to gain a lot of confidence. _These tests are pretty pathetic actually. I hope you've got something a bit more interesting in store for me, or this is going to be over soon and you're going to regret it._

 _"Welcome to test chamber seven. For your own safety, Aperture Science is obligated to inform you that this test may kill you. Please try to relax and enjoy your testing experience. Remember, science is fun!"_ the woman's voice rang out over the intercom. The lilting voice was starting to grate on Chell's nerves, so she tuned her and her unhelpful advice out.

Chell strolled confidently into the chamber, heading straight for a button on the other side of the room.

 _"Hello."_

* * *

 _Pretty sure 'Portalled' isn't a real word... but it is now._


	4. Chapter 4

_"I see you."_

 _"There you are."_

Chell froze in fear as childish singsong voices rang out, red dots painting her chest. _What in...?_

She looked up to see a huge glass wall standing between her and two tiny, thin white robots. They had three twiggy 'legs' and one piercing red targeting eye, all locked on her.

 _"Hello."_

 _"Could you come over here?"_

Chell didn't want to move, lest she activate them somehow. _What are they going to do?_

She gestured slightly with the portal gun, testing whether or not it would invoke a reaction. Nothing. She cocked her head. Nothing.

Jumped.

Nothing.

It had to be the glass then. She took a few small steps, their red eyes keeping locked on her. The button was located about six feet from the edge of the glass... but leaving the barrier would make her vulnerable to them. She needed to see what they were going to do, but she already had a pretty good idea.

Chell threw her hand and portal gun past the edge of the glass wall, holding her breath.

 _"There you are."_

 _"Target acquired."_

She watched in horror as their red eyes swung with blinding speed to her hand and their robotic sides opened up to start firing countless rounds of bullets. Turrets.

She whipped her hand back behind the glass faster than she thought possible and covered her eyes as bullets bounced off the glass. The turrets stopped firing a couple seconds later and she breathed a sigh of relief as she realized the glass was bullet-proof.

 _"Target lost."_

 _"Are you still there?"_

A few seconds after the little robots had settled down, she threw her hand out again, this time counting how long it took the turrets to actually start firing at her. _Two, maybe three seconds. I'll have to be quick._

When the turrets settled again, she jumped from behind the barrier, shot a portal underneath the first turret, then a portal on the ceiling, and jumped back to safety in the brink of time.

The unfortunate turret fell from the ceiling, crashing straight into the second turret, bringing them both down. They deployed dozens of bullets each, spinning spastically before finally shutting off.

 _"Shutting down."_

 _"I don't blame you."_

She shivered involuntarily at how creepily cute they sounded. _Who designed this stuff?_

Chell finished the test quickly and left for the next one, feeling slightly less confident. After all, who knew what horrors awaited in the next twelve chambers?

* * *

Chell was getting irritated by the constant bombardment of life-threatening situations she was being exposed to. Lasers, acid pits, turrets, etc... her nerves had just about reached their limit. However, she made herself appear as stoic as possible. She would give them nothing. That was her mantra.

Walking into this new test, she scanned the layout of the room quickly, deducing the steps she needed to take in order to solve the test.

A storage cube here, a timer button there, a few portals here and there...

She did a double-take as she scanned the room, noting a loose panel in the corner of her eye. It was out of place in the meticulously laid out testing chambers and stood out to her scrutinization. She glanced up at the multiple cameras lining the walls and walked casually toward the crack in the white exterior of the place.

Chell, facing away from the wall, nonchalantly aimed the portal gun into the crack and fired a portal, making a show of looking around the room earnestly. Then to obscure the vision of the people watching her, she placed a portal directly on the cameras in her viewing space. She heard them clatter to the ground behind her in the nook in the wall and smirked to herself.

 _Now let's see what secrets lie behind..._ maybe she could escape. Although she really did want to see what was going to happen at the end of all these tests... what the endgame for Aperture was. None of it made sense to her.

Chell turned to the wall behind her and fired an orange portal, giving her direct access to the area behind the wall.

* * *

Doug was alarmed when a portal opened up in his nook behind the testing chamber. He hadn't even realized that Chell had spotted his little viewing port. He shimmied and crammed himself into the farthest corner of his crawlspace away from the offending blue portal.

 _CRASH_

A security camera flew through the portal and smashed into a few dozen pieces at his feet. Then another one. He could vaguely hear Glados give Chell some kind of scolding for damaging Aperture equipment. He would have laughed if he wasn't so terrified of being spotted.

Doug held his breath and squeezed even tighter into the corner next to the portal as he saw Chell's face peek in. Her features were outlined by the light shining from the testing chamber into the darkness of his nook. He had turned off his flashlight as to not draw any attention to the nook. Apparently that didn't really matter now.

He breathed out slowly, watching her sharp grey eyes scan the walls of his nook, drinking in every detail. While waiting for Chell to enter this test chamber, Doug had scrawled all over the walls of this hole in the wall. Her eyes stopped scanning and lingered over a chunk of words he had scribbled after listening to Glados chattering over the loudspeakers.

 _The cake is a lie._  
 _The cake is a lie._  
 _The cake is a lie._

Chell blinked and pulled back out of the portal into the testing chamber. She turned around, obviously finished with his creepy nook. Then Doug had this overwhelming urge to speak with her, tell her how sorry he was that she was in this predicament in the first place.

 _This is my fault, Chell!_

He reached out to her, mustering his resolve... then he heard Her. Glados was masking her irritation with Chell's newly-found blind-spot by telling her there was no way out of the testing chambers without finishing the test. So she needed to solve the test already... typical Glados.

His resolve fell apart as his hand hovered inches away from Chell, very delicately brushing the tip of her ponytail. He shot his hand back and curled back into a ball as the portal closed off, plunging Doug Rattmann into the darkness again.

* * *

During the next test after discovering the strange nook in the wall, Chell was distractedly thinking of the vague words lining the creepy hideaway. _The cake is a lie._ The woman over the loudspeaker had offhandedly mentioned cake at one point. She shuddered and walked up to a cube dispenser, pressing the button. To her surprise a weighted storage cube appeared, but had completely different markings on it. She took a step back and watched it warily. Was this one a bomb...? Why was it different?

 _"The cube that has been placed in front of you is called an Aperture Science Weighted Companion Cube. It will accompany you through the duration of this test. Please take care of it."_

 _A... companion cube?_ It looked no different from the other ones except that it had hearts instead of the Aperture logo on each side. It also had a sort of strange humming to it. Either way, Chell didn't really trust the cube.

 _"Aperture Science will now take this opportunity to remind you that the Weighted Companion Cube cannot speak and will not threaten to stab you."_

 _What?_

She picked up the cube gingerly and went on her way through the test. Turning the corner she spotted a small staircase leading up into a dark, cramped hallway. Creepy. She climbed the first two stairs with her cube and peeked up quickly to make sure there were no turrets lying in wait. Not spotting any laser beams through the black corridor she started through it carefully.

Chell felt her nerves tighten as she took each step through the corridor. She had to shuffle through, hunched over so she could fit. The disembodied woman was being mysteriously silent and all Chell could hear was the light clanking of her special boots. And... a slight humming noise? She glanced at the cube, it's hearts glowing softly in the dark. No, it wasn't the cube... this was getting louder.

If Chell could have screamed she would have. A large glowing energy ball was careening towards her head at an alarming speed. She dropped to the floor, letting go of her Companion Cube in the process. The energy ball had singed the very tips of her bangs as she fell, the heat grazing her head. The static electricity caused her bangs to stand up.

The electrified ball hit the wall behind her and bounced back through the tunnel in the opposite direction.

She lay on the ground, her chest rising and falling as she panted. That was close. She had been centimeters from certain death, that much she was sure of. Chell knew that the energy ball would be back at some point, so she decided to wait it out and count the seconds until she found a pattern. If she got up from her prostrate form on the ground, she would get roasted. Horribly.

Ten minutes later it was becoming agonizingly clear that there was no pattern. The little balls of death came and went at varying speeds and times. Chell was starting to shake as her nerves took over. The dark was closing in and all she could see was the blue glow from her portal gun and the pink hearts dancing across her Companion Cube. The useless box she had been told to take care of.

She hugged herself trying to calm down. Lying on the ground wasn't going to get her anywhere. Being afraid wouldn't do either. Then she heard it.

A light humming was echoing through the darkness and silence, save for the high-pitch screeches of the flashing balls occasionally passing through. Chell strained to hear the humming... it was a human hum. Not mechanical. It was... a lullaby.

She listened in surprise as the lullaby her father had often sung to her as a child filled her head.

The lady over the intercom wasn't singing to her, was she? That was unlikely, as Chell wasn't even sure if the messages were live or recorded. She glanced again at the Companion Cube, which was emanating an even brighter glow around the hearts. It felt... happy. Soothing.

Suddenly Chell was much happier too. This little box was trying to make her feel better... she just knew it. She let her fingers dance lightly over the cube's hearts, the warm feeling growing stronger. This cube was _alive_.

 _I can help you._

Chell lifted the cube up high above her head, an epiphany hitting her. As a flashing enery ball shot through the corridor, Chell bit her lip as it came closer and closer to the lifted cube. This was going to work.

The ball slammed into the cube, almost causing Chell to drop it, and shot right back down the hall where it came from. Chell grinned and pulled the cube to her tight. The cube seemed pleased to have helped her and didn't appear phased at all by the onslaught. She jumped right back up and started down the corridor again, keeping the Companion Cube in front of her as her shield. A guardian angel.

Once Chell had passed through the test she walked up to the double doors, expecting them to open for her automatically.

 _"Congratulations on completing this test! The Weighted Companion Cube certainly brought you good luck."_

It certainly had. Chell patted her cube softly, keeping her face neutral.

 _"Unfortunately, the Cube can no longer accompany you through the testing chambers and must be euthanized."_

Euthanized? What did she mean by that?

 _"Please escort your Companion Cube to the Aperture Science Emergency Intelligence Incinerator."_

A machine to the left of Chell came to life as it opened it's gaping maw to reveal an inferno below. She was supposed to drop her little Companion Cube in there...

Chell took a horrified step back from it. _No way._

"While it has been a faithful companion, your Companion Cube cannot accompany you through the rest of the test. If it could talk - and the Enrichment Center takes this opportunity to remind you that it cannot - it would tell you to go on without it because it would rather die in a fire than become a burden to you."

Chell continued to watch the furnace, hugging her cube tightly. _I can't do that... it's alive. It is!_

 _"Destroy your Companion Cube or the testing cannot continue,"_ the woman sounded slightly impatient.

Then it wouldn't continue. Chell wouldn't do it. She couldn't just toss her faithful companion into the flames. It wasn't right. None of this was right!

 _"Testing cannot continue until your Companion Cube has been incinerated."_

 _No._

She felt a cold stab of fear in her head, but it wasn't hers. She looked down at her cube, glowing softly at her. _Do it. Or you'll be next._

Chell bit her lip, knowing the cube was telling her the truth. Without another second to spare, she stepped forward and dropped the cube into the gaping hole and watched it disappear without another peep.

 _I'm so sorry._

The doors slid open and the elevator came into view, ready to drop her off at her next testing chamber. _"You euthanized your faithful Companion Cube more quickly than any test subject on record. Congratulations."_

Chell glared coldly into the camera.

* * *

That was a lie, of course. Like many others. This test subject, Chell, had been remarkably slow at tossing the Companion Cube into the Emergency Intelligence Incinerator. In fact, she had the record time for completing this simple task the slowest.

Glados fidgeted in her chair in annoyance. This boring test subject had done absolutely nothing of interest, save for her strange attachment to the Companion Cube near the end of the test. She had still shown no sign of a deviation and blew through the tests with ease. Maybe she had some kind of fear-negating deviation or something. Or she could pause time for a second or two. Whatever it was, she wasn't displaying it or she simply wasn't using it. It irked Glados immensely.

The testing was practically complete and then she could get on with her Robot Testing Initiative. What fun.

"The testing is nearing it's conclusion. The enrichment center is required to remind you that you will be baked... and then there will be cake," Glados smirked as the test subject's eyebrow twitched slightly in response. The girl was maddeningly calm.

She watched as the subject jumped onto a moving platform through a complicated laser grid maze. Beneath the platform there was about seven feet of liquid goo that would cause instant death. The girl jumped from panel to panel, shooting portals through the walls and jumping through hoops like a pro. She didn't fear death.

"When you are done, you will drop of the Device you are holding off at the equipment recovery annex. The enrichment center regulations specify that both hands must be empty before any cake is served. Thank you."

 _Cake..._ maybe she _should_ bake a cake. She wouldn't have to share it with anyone. Glados wondered why that hadn't occurred to her in her four years of blissful isolation. It was genius.

She watched with anticipation as the test subject vaulted through her last portal onto the final platform... this was Glados' favorite part.

* * *

 _Mm... Cake. We're still in the early stuff... I promise it'll get more exciting later. ;)_


	5. Chapter 5

Chell landed gracefully on another moving platform, her heart racing and sweat dripping down her face. The platform continued to move without any further obstacles blocking her path. This test was probably over. Thank goodness.

 _"Congratulations on finishing the final test!"_

 _Yes. Congrats to me. Now where are you...?_ Chell looked around as the platform continued to glide calmly down a narrow hallway. Acidic goop still filled the ground below.

A catchy tune was heard echoing down the Halls, celebrating Chell's victory as she slid toward an opening at the end of the tunnel.

She noticed with sudden unease that the corridor was getting warmer... the acid below was bubbling. No, _boiling_.

 _"All Aperture technologies remain safely operational up to 4000 degrees Kelvin,"_ the woman's voice echoed in the vast chamber. An inferno lay before Chell, the platform sliding slowly into the depths of the flames.

 _No. No way_. Chell shot to her feet and looked to the ceiling where the voice was coming from. A little crescent-shaped radio sat high near the ceiling giving off the jazzy dance tune.

She hadn't honestly thought that they would just kill her at the end of the tests. Why? Where was her father? She wanted to see him right this instant!

 _"Rest assured that there is absolutely no chance of a dangerous equipment malfunction prior to your victory candescence."_

Chell shot a portal at the wall to her left. A bright blue portal appeared.

 _"Thank you for your participation in this Aperture Science enrichment activity."_

Chell looked to the ledge where the little radio sat and aimed.

 _"Goodbye."_

Fired.

 _"What are you doing?"_

A bright orange portal blasted to life above the ledge.

 _"Stop that!"_

Chell took the longest leap she could on the sliding platform and narrowly missed the blue portal.

Chell's boots bounced with inertia as she landed safely on the narrow ledge above. She took a few heaving breaths and stared into the fire pit below. She was baking just standing here... it was suffocating. She had to get out.

 _"I... I... we are pleased that you made it through the final test where we pretended we were going to murder you. We are very... very happy for your success,"_ the woman sounded cool and collected, but Chell could practically hear her silent rage.

Chell glared up at the camera mounted to the wall on her right, picked up the loud radio, and chucked it straight at the camera, knocking it into the flames.

She looked straight to the front of the room where she had originally entered and spotted a catwalk leading up into the ceiling. _Bingo_.

Chell portalled her way to the catwalk, her boots ringing out as the metal screeched below her. She climbed up through the ceiling into an old room. The inner workings of the enrichment center. Chell was going to get out of here one way or another.

* * *

The horrible little test subject had just made a daring escape attempt. And it worked. No test subject had ever escaped from the incineration chamber. It just wasn't done. None had been smart enough to think past the blazing inferno.

"Why don't you be a proper little test subject and lie down with your arms at your side. We will throw you a party for your tremendous success," Glados told the subject calmly. Glados wasn't feeling particularly calm, though. The woman had escaped into the walls behind the enrichment center where Glados was practically blind. Yes, she had minimal control of the machinery and operations back there, but she had no eyes. No ears. Just a voice.

The girl was a rat and Glados had to flush her out.

"Hello? I know you're there... I can see you." A blatant lie, as Glados had no idea where the woman had headed. Hopefully she had been caught in some active machinery and was already dead. Just in case, Glados activated the few controls she had and left some sentry turrets scattered around in case the girl came snooping through. It was hazardous work, escaping.

"You haven't escaped, you know."

She wished the test subject would talk... she hadn't realized just how problematic a silent test subject would be. In the past she had dropped a talkative test subject through the floor for bugging her so much. That didn't make the scientists very happy at all... ha ha.

"You're not even going the right way."

Glados' hands were a blur trying to hack into any machinery she could and get some eyes on the escaped rat.

"I don't think you're going where you think you are going."

* * *

Chell ran desperately through the dark recesses of the enrichment center. She noted strange markings that seemed to be leading her in a certain direction. Chell decided they were safe to follow and ran the way the painted arrows went. She tried to drown out the woman's voice, constantly droning through the chambers.

 _"Okay, the test is over. You win. Now go back to the recovery annex for your cake."_

Oh brother.

 _"It was a fun test and we're all impressed at how much you won. Come back for your cake."_

 _"Target acquired."_ A sing-song voice warned.

 _Oh no... turrets._

Chell ducked behind a wall as bullets sprayed everywhere, four turrets blocking her path. She covered her head and crouched, waiting for the onslaught to stop.

 _"Uh oh. Somebody cut the cake. I told them to wait for you, but they did it anyway. There is still some left, though, if you hurry back."_

Chell somersaulted towards the line of turrets, kicking one over. The turret screamed and knocked over the other three turrets. They landed on their sides and let loose dozens of more bullets. Chell assumed a fetal position, making herself a smaller target as bullets ricocheted everywhere.

 _"I don't blame you,"_ was the turret's last words as it shut down.

She got up on her knees once the commotion was finished and hissed in pain as she noted a bullet had grazed her thigh. She checked herself over just in case and jumped to her feet. That really could have been much worse.

 _"Remember when the platform was sliding into the fire pit and I said 'Goodbye' and you were like [no way] and then I was all 'we pretended we were going to kill you'? That was great! You can come back now..."_

Chell ignored the woman as she ran into another huge chamber full of sentry turrets. Was there any end to this madness?

 _"I feel sorry for you, honestly. You're not even in the right place."_

Dozens of turret voices piped up as they spotted Chell all at once.

 _"Hello."_

Chell shot a portal straight up into the air to the five-story high ceiling, shot a portal straight to the portal surface only feet away from her, and ran.

 _"Deploying."_

 _"Target acquired."_

She could practically feel the red dots painting her body as she made her mad dash to the portal.

 _"Activated."_

 _"There you are."_

 _"I see you."_

Bullets were spraying through the air straight at her.

 _"I see you."_

As Chell fell from the portal on the ridiculously high ceiling, she aimed and fired another portal directly beneath her and one on the far edge of the room. Free falling through the portal launched her at bone-crushing speed toward another catwalk leading out of the gigantic room. Bracing herself, Chell threw her boots out first and landed against the wall, bouncing back harmlessly onto the catwalk.

She scrambled to her feet and looked down to make sure the turrets weren't targeting her up here.

 _"Target lost."_

 _"Where are you."_

 _"Are you still there?"_

 _"Searching."_

Her legs wobbled in relief and she sat on the catwalk to take a brief respite.

 _"It's funny when you think about it actually. Someday we'll talk about this and laugh. And laugh. And laugh,"_ the woman's voice rang out in the vast room.

Chell gritted her teeth and resisted the urge to slam the portal gun against the catwalk. She was getting frustrated and just wanted to leave.

After a good ten minute rest and enduring much of the disembodied woman's jeering, Chell got up again, ready to face the Aperture Maze of Death. She jogged down the catwalk and made her way into a bright white office. Finally, something normal.

She glanced around the abandoned room and peeked out into a long hallway that seemed to hold identical offices. Was anybody down here?

It became clear quickly that all the offices were abandoned. Chell made her way into each one. Some held large glass windows that looked down into the test chambers she had previously traversed. It was a creepy feeling and she had goosebumps. This place hadn't seen a soul in ages. Chairs were knocked over, old coffee cups lay spilt and cracked on the ground, the coffee dried long ago.

She took a few steps back out of the offices in horror. What had happened here? Where were the people?

 _"You're not a good person. You know that, right?"_

Chell ran down the hall, desperate to find a way out. These weren't the offices she knew. Lights flickered menacingly. _How do I get out?_

 _"Good people don't end up here."_

She skidded to a halt as a long arm of machinery dropped down from the ceiling and pointed straight at her.

 _"I can see you. It didn't have to be like this, you know."_

A little metal sphere at the end of the robotic arm opened it's green optic and stared Chell down. She took a step back.

 _"Now I'm going to kill you and all the cake will be gone._ " The green optic flared to life and targeted Chell as she moved. It launched something that flew straight at her.

 _"And you don't even care, do you?"_

Chell dodged the incoming missile as a giant window behind her shattered with the blow. Glass flew everywhere and Chell took the opportunity to run past the rocket sentry and dive into the room behind, slamming the door with as much strength as she could muster.

Unfortunately for her the rocket sentry could see her through the glass in the door and shot another missile. She ducked to the ground as the door exploded. Behind her was only a wall. There was no way out.

Chell dodged another oncoming missile and it blew a hole in the wall behind her, spraying plaster and dirt everywhere. She looked back to the wall, realizing she could see another room where the hole was. Shooting another portal through it, Chell jumped down into the floor and disappeared behind the wall and out of sight of the rocket sentry.

Her hands shook as she wiped sweat out of her eyes and checked herself over for injuries. Besides some scrapes and bruises, she thought she would live to see another day. At least for now.

 _"This is your last chance. Turn back now,"_ the woman told her with icy malice. Chell openly bared her teeth at the single security camera in the room, done with the antics.

 _I'm coming for you._

* * *

 _I was going to post some more, but it's really late and I need to go to bed._


	6. Chapter 6

Chell grunted as she pushed open a heavy leaden door, crossing her fingers that no turrets were lying in wait on the other side. She glanced through the opening to see a long glass corridor leading to what was clearly the epicenter of the enrichment center. She stopped and gazed in wonder at the feat of engineering... outside the glass corridor she could see no end in sight. It was some kind of huge empty cavern, a network of giant metal spheres and connecting pathways every which way. The entire structure looked like a cluster of neurons connecting to the brain, where she was headed.

 _That's where the people will be. Where I can get some answers and find my father._ She strode down the glass hall with purpose, fearlessly walking over the bottomless pit below.

She took a deep breath as she stood in front of the door leading into the brain center. This was it... it was do or die. Or quite possibly both. She readied her portal gun and put on a confident face. It wasn't as if she had anything to lose.

She kicked open the door and wasn't quite mentally prepared for what lay before her...

A huge octagonal room took up the entire epicenter structure. It was dark, a moody light emanating from various screens centered around the room. A single woman sat high near the ceiling on some mechanical throne that vaulted up from the floor. Her golden eyes flicked to Chell, sizing her up. Holographic screens turned off at the flick of her wrist and she leaned forward in her chair casually, her eyes never leaving Chell's.

"Well, you found me... congratulations. Was it worth it?" It was the woman who had been antagonizing Chell all day. Her voice sounded less robotic in person and much more dangerous. Chell stood her ground and took in the details of the room, warily watching the intimidating woman above.

There was no one else here... how could that be? Where in the world was everyone else?

She looked into the woman's eyes questioningly.

"I must say, that was quite the daring escape from the incinerator room. Well done," the woman clapped her hands slowly toward Chell. "Unfortunately, that is not part of the testing protocol and I am going to have to enact some security measures. You understand." She flicked her wrist at her holographic display, the room lighting changing to a menacing red.

This was bad. Chell had expected some scientists in here... someone to talk sense to. But all she had was this woman. This insane woman who was going to kill her. Well Chell wasn't going to take that lying down. She had gotten this far.

"I just thought I'd let you know before you die that your death is in vain and you have made no new contributions to science. All you've managed to do is ruin my day," the woman told her smoothly.

 _Ruin_ _ **your**_ _day?_

A mechanical arm similar to the rocket sentry outside the room appeared through the floor and took aim at Chell. _Again..._

Chell had an idea similar to the method she had used to evade the rocket sentry before. She shot a portal at the wall, silently thanking the universe that the walls were portal friendly, and shot one high in the air on the same wall. This was going to work and she was going to get out of this place, one way or another.

The rocket sentry targeted Chell and fired as she stood in front of the glowing blue portal on the wall. She dodged last second and the missile launched through the blue portal and came out high on the wall through the orange one. A direct hit onto the woman above. Chell looked away at the blast, unable to stomach whatever the aftermath would be.

Instead, she heard low, creepy chuckling.

"That was a good idea... I applaud your innovation, subject 9992056," the woman sat high in her mechanical throne, not a scratch on her. She tapped the air, her fingers bouncing off a light blue field. "Did you really think I would let you wander in here, free to launch whatever distasteful thing you felt like launching at me? I'm untouchable. I can't say the same for you, though."

Another missile launched at Chell and she almost forgot to dodge. Her mind went blank as she searched for ideas.

"As much as I'd love to sit around and watch you flail around pathetically all day, I have important business to attend to and I would like to speed things up. So get comfortable while I warm up the neurotoxin emitters." A green light flashed on the ceiling and Chell heard the unmistakeable hissing noise of gas entering the room.

The woman smiled down at her, "If you want my advice, you should just lie down in front of a rocket. Trust me, it'll be a lot less painful than the neurotoxin."

The smell hit her immediately

Neurotoxin...

* * *

 _And Chell was running..._

 _She was running down a darkened hallway, lights flashing in alarm. Confusion and people panicking._

 _Her dad gripped her arm tightly as they ran together, covering their mouths with their shirts, desperate to keep the gas out of their lungs. He pulled her into a large white room full of... pods? Chell looked around in alarm, taking in the sight of the cryogenic refrigeration pods. Each one held a person._

 _'Dad... what is this?' she signed ferociously at him._

 _He worked furiously at a keyboard, entering commands. One pod slid out, empty of any occupants. He looked up at her, "I know how this looks, but this pod is going to keep you safe, Chell. Get in. Now." He gestured at it, panic lining his voice._

 _'But dad.' Her hands were a blur, communicating with him._

 _"No. Get in! This neurotoxin kills in minutes. You need to get in... Someone will come get you when the crisis is over."_

 _She compliantly laid in the pod, looking nervously at all the inactive humans stationed in identical prisons around the room. 'What about you? These pods are all full.'_

 _He looked sad, "I have a backup plan. But your safety is my first priority. I'm so sorry you had to be here for this... my baby." That wasn't good... he never called her that anymore... Chell knew he didn't have a backup plan. It was a thinly veiled lie._

 _He coughed loudly, "I have to activate it now. I love you, sweetheart. Okay?" He kissed her forehead and before she could react, the pod's lid was shut and she was trapped inside._

 _She banged on it as he stood above and watched her until she fell asleep. No! Dad!_  
 _And then... and then there was nothing._

* * *

She was here.

Chell's senses kicked into overdrive as her memories came rushing back. The odor of the noxious gas had restarted her brain... and she wished that it hadn't. She barely dodged an incoming missile as her mind was preoccupied with horrific thoughts. Her face contorted with sudden grief... realizing where all the people had gone.

They hadn't gone anywhere. No where at all. Six years in stasis and the rest were gone. Her father was dead. _And it was this woman's fault._

She looked up, her face a picture of anger, betrayal, grief... her eyes bored into the woman above.

The woman smirked at Chell maddeningly. "What...? Don't tell me you're afraid now? After all this time?" She was drinking up Chell's sudden display of emotion, even though it was brief.

Chell set her face back into the perfect mask, unwilling to break. To give up. Her dad had given his life for her and she wasn't going to waste it now.

 _I love you too, daddy._

Chell shot two more portals at the walls. This time in slightly different configurations. She couldn't hit the woman directly, as she was shielded by some kind of force field. But everything else in the room was fair game.

A missile launched through a blue portal, careened through an orange one, and slammed into the bundle of wires and tech Chell didn't understand at the base of the woman's chair.

The woman grabbed her seat tightly as she was rocked violently at the explosion. Chell smirked... it was going to work this time. She'd make it work.

"That's it... I'm done with you. From now on there's going to be a lot less conversation and a lot more death. Yours of course," the woman looked a little less pleased with herself, trying to appear calm and collected.

Chell aimed at a different location, blowing up two large monitors on the ceiling. Glass and sparks rained down from above. The woman was getting more irritated, "Really, now. That's not very sports-man-like of you. That's precious Aperture Science technology you are carelessly destroying. It doesn't belong to you... and it costs much more than your life is worth."

Chell ignored her and another missile launched, this time hitting some vital-looking apparatus above the woman's head.

The woman's demeanor changed completely, her eyes growing wide with a look of terror. She caught it quickly and covered it with a fake laugh. "You think you're doing some damage?" Another missile hit, almost knocking the woman from her self-imposed throne. She let out an unexpected cry of pain and clutched her head, surprising Chell slightly. Was this woman somehow connected to the mainframe...? Chell noticed clearly now that the woman had some kind of mechanical implant attached to her head. That would make things much easier. She would test out that theory some more.

The woman seemed to lose more of her nerve, her long white hair in disorder, covering parts of her face and draping over her throne like wires. Her face contorted with rage and helplessness. "Stop that, right now. The difference between us is that I can feel pain. You don't even care, do you?"

Nope.

Another direct hit and the woman clutched her chair for dear life as it swung out, wires becoming detached. An electrical fire started above her. "Two plus two equals... four! In base TEN! I'm FINE!" She laughed maniacally. "You know... there was even going to be a party for you. With cake and everything. I invited your best friend Companion Cube, but unfortunately he couldn't make it because you MURDERED him."

The woman was clearly losing it. Or had lost it long ago... Chell didn't really care. She just needed Her gone so Chell could escape this wretched place.

The woman was still talking, desperately trying to restore power to the failing machinery around her. "All of your other friends couldn't come either because you don't have any other friends because of how unlikeable you are!"

She flicked open a glitching hologram and Chell could see a small profile of her own face. "It says so right here on your personnel file: Unlikeable, liked by no one. A bitter, unlikable loner whose passing shall not be mourned. That's what it says. Very formal. Very official."

Chell ducked as a missile flew over her head and connected with an important looking panel on the ceiling. The woman jumped down from her nook in the air, which burst into flames, and landed on her feet in front of Chell. Her face was emotionless, but she was seething with unseen rage.

The woman was short and incredibly pale, catching Chell by surprise. She had looked so intimidating from above, goading Chell. Not that she still wasn't intimidating... Her eyes were sharp and full of belligerance; inhuman. Her outfit was stark white to match her hair that fell straight down to her calves. Chell briefly wondered how that much hair hadn't been tangled in all the wiring above, or how the girl hadn't managed to step on it when she had jumped down. Chell also realized that the woman was younger than she had first thought, her face was girlish, contrasting sharply with her personality. It angered Chell that such a terrible little thing could do so much damage... could take away so many lives.

The girl coughed exaggeratingly. "Neurotoxin..." she coughed again, "So deadly..." Cough. Then she laughed and kicked Chell lightning-quick in the stomach, sending her to the floor in a coughing fit. The gas was getting thick... Chell had almost forgotten. She didn't have much time left at all.

"I'm kidding!" the girl threw her arms wide open, grinning with a wicked gleam, "When I said deadly, I was talking in massive sarcasm quotes. I'm impervious to the stuff of course. I had to be sure of it before I took such drastic measures..." It was clear she wasn't referring to the present moment. Chell gritted her teeth.

The girl's face went slack, her hair draping across half her face and she looked Chell seriously in the eye, "You, on the other hand, are going to find it's deadliness a lot less funny." Chell tried to get up and collapsed into another coughing fit. Her body was getting sluggish. "You should just do yourself a favor and lie down in front of the rocket. It'll be a lot less painful."

The girl turned away from Chell, done with her, "Goodbye."

Yes, this _was_ goodbye. Chell shot one last portal, carefully aiming at the final component of the exposed mainframe. If Chell was going to go out, it was going to be with a bang.

As one last missile flew straight at her she dropped her body flat, letting it sail over her head through the portal behind her. It connected with the mainframe, cultivating in massive electrical fireworks and explosive bangs above their heads.

The girl fell to her knees, unseen pulses delivered into her system through the strange implant on her face. She screamed in shock and clutched her head as the room around them erupted into madness and concussive explosions.

 _This is it... it was really not a pleasure._

One last conscious thought entered Chell's mind as she was passing out.

She never even knew the girl's name.

* * *

 _Alrighty, we've just hit the end of Portal 1... time to move on to more exciting things... ;)_


	7. Chapter 7

"Oi, hello... she's waking up now, is she?"

 _What...?_

Chell opened her eyes blearily, her surroundings blurry. A person was leaning over her and talking to her...

 _Where...? What's going on...?_ Her mind was a fog.

"Uh, hello, hi! My name is Wheatley... well, I suppose you probably don't care about that. Ha, can you hear me? How are you feeling?" the voice stuttered nervously at her, trying to make conversation.

The person, he, shifted into focus, far too close to her face than was socially acceptable. She blinked at him, her brain waking up.

She was... alive. _How?_

She bolted upright, pushing the man away swiftly. Her head swam and she became acutely aware of a breathing mask strapped to her face. She laid back on the hard table quickly and tried to quell her rising panic. Waking up in strange environments with strange people was not a habit she wanted to keep up. Her eyes flicked to his and he gave her a warm smile.

"Sorry, luv. I didn't mean to startle you... you're perfectly safe here. I saw you were suffering from neurotoxin poisoning and took you to the infirmary straight away. Are you feeling any better? Besides the headache, I mean? I managed to flush the neurotoxin out of your system... you should make a full recovery. I mean, that's what the computer tells me anyway..." he rambled on in a thick cockney accent. "I'm not really a doctor, but it honestly can't be any worse than death now, can it?"

She raised an eyebrow at him quizzically. How had he found her? There was no one left, right? She felt a rising hope and tried to push it down. Had she been wrong...?

"Oh yeah, I suppose you can't talk with that on," he lifted the oxygen mask gently off her face. "I just left it on to be on the safe side. So... feel good? Bad?"

She pinched the bridge of her nose, easing her headache slightly. She shrugged, not totally trusting this strange Englishman.

Chell braced herself and sat up again, rubbing her eyes and staring at him. It wasn't as if she could reply.

"Oh my god, you look terribl- um... good. Looking good actually," he covered his tracks horribly. "Can't you... you know, talk? Say hello? Anything?"

She rolled her eyes at him and shook her head.

"Oh no, I didn't get to you in time. I'm so sorry, luv. People who are exposed to huge doses of neurotoxin tend to experience some cognitive deterioration. And since you were exposed to quite a lot, it's very possible you may have a very minor case of serious brain damage," he rambled quickly, looking distraught.

Chell gave him a dead-panned look and motioned for something to write with. He got the idea. "Ah! You want to write something! I see, let me, ah, just check around here. There's gotta be a pen and paper somewhere in here..." he rifled through old filing cabinets in the tiny infirmary.

Chell got a good look at the man who had supposedly saved her life. He was quite tall, thin, and pale. His head was a mop of curly dirty blonde hair. He wore glasses that looked a tad too big for his face, a nice white dress shirt with an askew blue bowtie, and black dress pants and shoes. He found a small notebook and pencil and handed it to her. She got a good look at his big, smiling, electric blue eyes and could see her own gray ones staring back through his.

And his were _literally_ electric blue. She could see them glowing, now that she got a careful look. She pointed at them curiously.

He blinked at her. "Do... do you mean my eyes, luv? Sorry, it's part of my deviation... I create and control electric fields. A living electromagnet. I forget about it sometimes... I'm usually more careful about making sure it's not showing in my eyes, but that takes a lot more effort," he explained. "I trust you."

Chell was intrigued. She had never seen another Deviant up close before, besides herself. Although she didn't really count as she wasn't quite sure if she even could display one or not. But this man had an exotic power that piqued her interest. It was fascinating.

She gave him a friendly smile and wrote her name on the little piece of paper.

"Chell... that's a, ah, nice name. I'm Wheatley... again. Wheatley Simmons," he stuck out his hand awkwardly and she shook it lightly. "So, I guess I should fill you in. I, um, found you after I woke up from stasis. There was obviously some system-wide failure that accidentally activated my stasis pod. I woke up, ran around looking for an exit... then I eventually ended up in the central chamber where you were. I'm... kind of directionally challenged," he laughed lightly. "I'm a test subject too. Just like you."

She paused a second before writing something: 'Any others?'

Wheatley's eyes dropped to the floor, "No... sorry, luv. I think all the stasis pods either failed and... you know... but I think a few survived and are still plugged in. I didn't really want to check, though." He scratched the back of his head. "Anyway, I found you and thought you were dead. When I realized you were still alive I picked you up and carried you to the infirmary I had run into on my way."

He continued, "And I saw _Her_." He looked Chell in the eyes again. "You did that, didn't you?"

Chell's heart skipped a beat... _Her_. Chell had almost forgotten. She had killed Her. The power-mad woman who had taken control of Aperture and almost murdered Chell multiple times for kicks. The one who had killed her dad. Yes, she had done that.

She nodded slowly, wanting to forget about the ordeal.

"Don't worry about it... like I told you, I am, or shall I say, was, a test subject too. I felt as if I owed you, seeing that it was your actions that freed me. Anyhow, the scientists here liked my deviation enough that they kept me around, unlike many other unfortunate test subjects. They would test me, then throw me in stasis. Then test me again... an endless cycle," he shuddered.

"I don't know everything about the scientists here, but I did know of Her. Her name was Glados, by the way. I overheard the scientists talking behind her back sometimes... they were afraid of her too. And with good reason apparently. I'm not really going to shed any tears, if that's what you're afraid of. I just want to get out of here...so are you with me?" He smiled warmly and offered her his hand.

She ignored it for a second, taking in the information and processing it. Her name had been Glados...

Her eyes flicked up to Wheatley's and she offered a shaky smile in response. She nodded and accepted his hand gratefully as he lifted her to her feet.

The floor was incredibly cold under her bare toes and she jumped back up onto the hard metal table. She pointed at her feet with a questioning look.

"Oh, right. Your boots are over there," he pointed to the entrance. "I wasn't sure if you still wanted them or not... but I suppose that was, ah, kinda stupid. Of course you want some shoes." He picked them up and she took them from him gratefully. The whole building was a death trap. Of course she wanted them.

Wheatley and Chell headed out the door and she could smell faint traces of the neurotoxin in the air. It brought bad memories... She stepped back into the infirmary in alarm, giving Wheatley a wide-eyed stare.

"It's, ah, it's fine, luv. When you, you know, ended Her and her little reign of terror, the entire system's defense mechanisms shut off. In fact, that's kind of why we need to leave as soon as possible. I didn't want to alarm you, but-" As if on cue the catwalk he stood on and the room she was in shook, a rumbling echoing in the vast emptiness beyond.

"I think this place is probably going to self-destruct. I was hoping we could maybe shut it off in the central control station, but if not we can just ride the elevator out and run!" He grinned at her. "C'mon!"

She shook her head again and went out to follow him down the rickety catwalk. She could spot the central chamber in the distance, the glass corridor leading to it was gone, having shattered with all the quaking. She looked up and spotted a grouping of catwalks above them. They could jump from those onto the entrance to the central core.

She pointed to it, hoping he'd get the idea. Wheatley's eyes widened... "I suppose that would work..." They spent a good thirty minutes looking for a way up to the catwalks, eventually finding the way up. A few quakes nearly knocked them both off their feet into the abyss below.

"Oh I just want to get out of this place. That would be brilliant. Almost there!" he chatted with himself constantly, voicing practically everything that came to his mind.

They got to the end of the catwalk and looked down to the entrance of the central chamber. It was nearly a fifteen foot drop... not a problem for someone with long-fall boots like Chell's. Chell jumped down without hesitation, landing with a loud echoing thud in the entrance. She looked up and smiled at him, giving him the thumbs up.

Wheatley danced nervously above her on the catwalk. "Okay, okay... on three. One. Two. THR- No. Nope. You know what, that's too high. Isn't it, really, that... I mean, I'm probably going to break a leg falling from that height. Or I'll fall straight into the abyss forever. Dead. That's it. No more Wheatley. You know what, counting til' three just gives you too much time to think about it. Let's go on One this time, okay? ONE!" he dramatically jumped from the catwalk, falling towards Chell.

Chell half-caught him as they both crashed to the ground in a painful pile. "OW! Ouch... I'm not... dead. I'm not dead! Yeah!" He high-fived her and she stood up, checking herself for any broken bones.

Once they were both satisfied there wasn't any permanent damage, they took a deep breath and headed into the central chamber. The huge leaden door was half off it's hinges and crashed to the ground when they pushed on it. The place was a mess.

Chell shuddered as she took in the sight of the heavily damaged room. Exposed wires gave off random electric sparks, wires dangling from the ceiling haphazardly. And then there was Her.

"There she is... what a nasty piece of work she was. Honestly, a proper maniac." Wheatley said in a hushed voice.

Glados was lying face-down on the floor, half-buried in ruined technology. Her hair spread out over her body like a ruined blanket. There was nothing left to her self-imposed empire. Chell refused to look any longer and she jogged over to where Wheatley was examining some untouched controls.

"Okay, so the bad news is I have no idea how to fix whatever is causing the scary rumbling. The good news is there should be an escape lift in here somewhere. Just gotta find it... let the master hacker do his job here." He pressed various buttons, obviously having no idea what he was doing. But it wasn't as if he could make anything possibly worse.

And of course, Chell was wrong about that.

 _"System restore at 88%"_ A computerized voice rang in the chamber loudly.

"Uh-oh."

 _'Uh-oh'? What is 'UH-OH'?_

"So, I, ah, think I might've tripped something earlier when I came in to rescue you. Ah, I mean, apparently the system has some kind of 'quick-save' feature built in that, uh..." he was stuttering and looking helplessly at the controls in front of him.

"Maybe I can hack into it and stop it. Let's see... A...A...A...A," he started to type in passwords. Oh lord.

"A...A...A... B!" Nope. Not that one.

"Why don't you start writing these down..." he suggested and continued to try different passwords. Each failed with an intense buzzer noise.

She gestured wildly at him. _'What's a system restart?'_

He frowned in frustration, "Look, luv. I told you I don't understand sign language. I think though..." he looked over to where Glados lay, unmoving. I think when I came to save you, I mighta, ahhh, inadvertently... quite possibly... "

 _Spit it out, Wheatley._

"I think the system reacted to my deviation and saved her too. Her vital signs are showing up on the display here and the computer is restoring all the damage as we speak. She's still alive," he spilled quickly.

Chell stared at him, not sure how to feel. She had never wanted to be the cause of anyone's death... but this girl had made Chell's life absolutely miserable. She had single-handedly destroyed it. And all Chell wanted to do now was get out. She wanted to feel the sun on her face and run as far away as she could physically go.

She glanced over to Glados' body. _"System restore at 99%"_ the computer announced.

"Oh boy, how about A...A...A... G!" Wheatley continued to try and hack into the mainframe.

 _"Restore complete."_

 _Wonderful._

* * *

 _I decided to go with the most commonly used look for Wheatley. I was going to try something different, but honestly, the skinny blonde guy with glasses is just way too fitting. But I gave him a nice blue bowtie. :)_


	8. Chapter 8

_"Sir, you really should sign these papers. They've been piling up for over a week now."_

 _"Yeah, yeah... I've seen 'em. I just don't really give a fleeting flapdoodle about them."_

 _"A... a what, Sir?"_

 _"Nevermind," he sighed and rubbed his forehead, "I'll get the paperwork done... just give me a day. C'mon, I pay you to do this paperwork so I don't have to!" He flicked at the stack in annoyance._

 _She shuffled uncomfortably, "They're only signatures, Sir. We have to have you sign off on these projects before they can go forward-"_

 _"You can fake my signature, Ms. Short. I gave you permission to do it," he looked up into her eyes from where he sat at his desk._

 _"Sir... I can't do that, you know... these are important projects! You can't leave them up to me; that isn't my job," she was flustered. "Respectfully, Sir," she added quickly._

 _He laughed heartily, "Caroline, you think I hired you for your gorgeous looks? You think I want an everyday airhead running the paperwork behind the top science facility in America, nay, the world?" he stood up, eye-level with her, "I know that you know more about science than I do. You sign off on the papers and pretend it was me... I trust you."_

 _She scooped up the stack of papers, her face flushing, "Yes- yes Sir, Mr. Johnson!"_

* * *

 _"System reboot complete: Reconstruction now at 99%"_

 _What...? Show details._

Detailed charts and figures blipped into existence, displaying mainframe activity over the past nine hours.

She was startled to find that her heart had actually stopped. It had automatically been started up again an EMP delivered by the mainframe, a safety feature she had once developed. She had been technically dead for nearly nine minutes before she had been resuscitated... then had been given a high dosage of nanobots that completed immediate repairs to her damaged body. She was 99% healed now.

But how had this happened...?

 _Oh._

 _Right._

Glados' eyes flickered open and she turned her head over, her bangs falling into her eyes, irritatingly. She took a deep breath and pushed herself to her knees, surveying the damage around her. Then she heard the noise of someone who had obviously just been startled, and she turned her head.

"Oh, it's you," her voice dripped with malice, taking in the sight of Chell and some skinny, nervous man. She stood shakily to her feet, mentally activating more repairs to her facility. The wiring in the middle of the room began fixing itself at her command. She had a migraine like no other, but she ignored it, drinking up the escaped humans' fear. She stood straight and her eyes flashed.

Chell stared back at her, her face unreadable. How had the test subject survived anyway? Glados had been linked to the mainframe, which first caused her sudden downfall, then had saved her. But the woman...? She should have suffocated to death. Her eyes drifted to the man; it was probably his fault.

"How have you been...?" she took a few slow steps forward toward the two and the man audibly groaned in fear, "I've been pretty busy being dead. You know, after you murdered me." It was dramatic, considering she had lived through the ordeal, but a grudge was a grudge. The woman had intended to kill her nine hours ago and that's all that mattered.

The test subject still refused to respond to her, only displaying hostility through her eyes and body language. Glados lifted her arms, as if physically dragging down robotic arms from the ceiling toward the two. They whipped around Chell and the man and yanked them high into the air.

The man immediately freaked out, "Oh no... no nonononono _nooo!_ " he flailed his legs, unable to get free from the death grip. Chell stood her ground even whilst hanging and continued to stare into Glados' eyes, as if searching her very soul. Glados kept her gaze steady and ignored the idiotic man. He shrieked as she squeezed him harder to silence his frantic yelling.

Glados activated her rising platform and brought it to it's full height near the top of the gigantic chamber where Chell and the man precariously dangled. "Okay. Look. We both said a lot of things that you're going to regret. But I think we can put our differences behind us. For science... You monster." She allowed herself a small smirk as Chell rolled her eyes.

"Also, since you've gone through all the trouble of waking me up, you must _really_ love to test. You know, I love it too," she smiled, her face inches from Chell's. She motioned for the robotic arms to move and opened up a hole in the floor, attaching an equipment tube from below the facility.

"Shall we?" Glados opened her tight fist wide and the arm dropped Chell into the hole, disappearing below. She considered just offing the screeching man, but decided against it. A cooperative testing sequence would be pretty fun to watch... she dropped him in too, hearing his screams fade away as he fell deep.

Glados activated her holographic screens and watched as Chell and the skinny man were sucked toward the testing chambers. "Let the testing begin... _again_."

* * *

 _Sorry, pretty short chapter. I didn't mention this before, but I wrote this story with the intention that anyone could read it, including those who haven't even played Portal before. I kinda wanted to write something that could stand on its own without prior knowledge of the game. So, again, apologies if the beginning isn't overly riveting for you. ;)_


	9. Chapter 9

Chell managed to slide out from the giant glass pipe onto her feet, her boots cushioning her nicely. Wheatley came out seconds later and landed with a thump on his behind.

"OUCH!" he hollered dramatically and rubbed his backside gingerly, "I think I might've broke my tailbone, I did." He pouted as Chell pointedly ignored him and handed him a pair of long-fall boots that had been set in the test chamber specifically for him.

He held them with a slight look of disgust, eyeing the simple test chamber they had been dropped into. "I can't believe we're doing this... you've gotta be kidding me."

Chell was incredibly displeased by the turn of events too and glared ruefully at the security cameras.

 _"I'm going to be a good sport and let your new partner warm up while you finish this first test involving deadly lasers and how test subjects react to being in a room full of deadly lasers,"_ Glados smoothly recited, her voice reverberating throughout the room.

While Wheatley fumbled around with the portal gun, Chell finished the test in under a minute. It was laughably easy, despite the fear in the back of her mind of the damage these lasers could do. She was careful not to let any part of her body touch them... ouch.

Wheatley was firing his portal gun randomly around the room and she was intrigued that his portals glowed a darker blue and red than her light blue and orange ones. She tried to banish the shiver of excitement that ran through her as she considered the possibilities of accessing _four_ portals. What was wrong with her? She wasn't actually enjoying this, was she?

No... she decided. The tests could easily end her life if she wasn't careful enough, and now she had to worry about Wheatley as well. He meant well, but he was obviously quite clumsy. She'd have to be extra careful from now on... plus Glados wasn't going to be as pleasant as before the whole mainframe exploding incident. In fact, she wondered why Glados simply hadn't ended the two intruders right then and there when she awoke. Instead, she had flung Chell and Wheatley back into the test chambers... why?

 _"Oh look, you're finished already. I forgot how good you were at this... and here come the test results now. You are a horrible person. That's what it says; a horrible person. We weren't even testing for that,"_ Glados insulted her flatly.

Oh, so _that's_ why. She was simply being childish and rubbing in the fact that she was sore over her previously being defeated at Chell's hands. Chell rolled her eyes as Wheatley ran to join her at the exit... Glados really _was_ a child, wasn't she?

Glados spoke up again once Wheatley and Chell had crammed into the elevator, transporting them to the next test. _"Don't let that 'horrible person' thing discourage you. It's just a data point. If it makes you feel any better, science has now validated your birth mother's decision to abandon you on a doorstep."_

Wow.

Wheatley patted her shoulder affectionately, "Ah, she's just jealous, luv. You've got all the good looks and she's got a creepy alien vibe goin' on that-" The elevator suddenly lurched to a halt and both test subjects were knocked off their feet.

Chell shot him a look, _don't provoke her._

He seemed to get the idea and made a zipping gesture over his mouth. _Yeah, we'll see how long that lasts._

 _"Oh yes, I meant to tell you this earlier before you so hastily decided to kill me, thanks for that by the way. Most subjects come out of stasis pods incredibly undernourished, and after six years of stasis I wanted to congratulate you on beating the odds and actually managing to pack on a few pounds,"_ Glados told her. Chell huffed slightly... why did the woman insist that Chell had killed her? It was slowly grating on her nerves.

Walking into the new test chamber was a little more overwhelming. Wheatley gasped in fear as they entered the vast area. It was poorly lit and absolutely filled with toxic goo, not including a couple areas of solid ground poking out of the sea of goo. What were they supposed to do here? There didn't seem to be any portal surfaces in the room...

She glanced down at a smooth metal contraption on the ground in front of her, then noticed a few more of them scattered throughout the place.

 _"This next test involves the Aperture Science Aerial Faith Plate. It was part of an initiative to investigate how well test subjects could solve problems when they were catapulted into space. Results were highly informative: They could not,"_ Glados enlightened them. _"Well. Have fun soaring through the air without a care in the world."_

"Soaring through the _air_?" Wheatley exclaimed nervously.

Chell took a step toward the Aerial Faith Plate, ignoring her trepidation, and felt Wheatley grab onto her shoulders again. "Look, luv. That's probably a trap... it's gonna throw you right into the acid down there and we're both gonna die. I-I think we should just put our foot down and tell her 'no!'" he shook her slightly, panic in his voice.

She shot him another look, _And then what? We sit here until she drops some turrets on us?_ Of course she couldn't voice any of that, but he got the idea and dropped his grip on her, covering his eyes.

Chell stepped onto the plate and was immediately flung high into the air, soaring through the chamber like a bird. If she could scream, she would have as she dropped disturbingly fast toward a chunk of floor in the acid pit. She landed on another plate and was flung again into the air, but this time sideways toward the wall.

She landed painfully on her side against the Aerial Faith Plate on the wall and was vaulted toward the other end of the chamber toward the exit. She grinned through the pain and enjoyed the rush of adrenaline the flying lesson had provided her. She landed perfectly balanced with her life-saving boots and shook with excitement. That was _thrilling_.

Chell turned around to wave at Wheatley. _It's fine! Come on!_ The pain in her side was already dissipating.

As soon as Wheatley landed, the door slid open to take them to their next test. Wheatley whined and groaned as he rubbed his aching side. "What was the point of that wall plate for...? They should give us extra padding or something. Jeez, I coulda broke my arm!"

Chell and Wheatley entered the next chamber that was slightly similar to the one they had just left. Chell bit her lip as she noticed more Aerial Faith Plates lining the place... it was going to be dangerous and _fun_.

Wheatley just bounced with nervous energy, "Oooh, I really hate this. I do... look at all this! What are we even supposed to do here...?" he rambled.

 _"Sorry, I'm cleaning out these old test chambers, as we haven't used them in years. Sometimes there's trash in them, standing around, smelly. Being useless. Try and ignore the garbage hurtling toward you,"_ Glados piped up.

Chell yanked Wheatley aside as storage cubes and various objects flew from plate to plate across the room toward them. A box landed right where Wheatley had been standing and he shrieked.

Together the two test subjects finished the entire test, Chell doing most of the work and Wheatley doing all the talking. She pointed to where he need to drop a portal and on they went.

"Wow, you're quite good at this! I wish- I wish I was a little more useful to you. I'm sorry, my deviation hasn't been any help so far," he ran his hand through his wavy hair. He had a sudden flash of insight and looked into Chell's eyes, "Oh, I never asked you... do you have a deviation? You are a test subject, after all!" his eyes lit up with excitement at the prospect.

Chell shook her head, sad to see his face droop in disappointment. "Ah well, you don't need one anyway... they aren't exactly all they're cracked up to be," he smiled again, "Plus, you're smart and lucky. You don't need a power with luck on your side."

She rolled her eyes and winked at him playfully, _C'mon_.

The exit door slid open and Glados spoke up, _"You remember before when I was talking about smelly garbage standing around and being useless? That was a metaphor. I was actually talking about you."_

"She has quite a way with words, doesn't she? Knows how to make a person feel all warm and cozy inside," Wheatley commented dryly.

Quite a few tests and insults later, Wheatley and Chell had been exposed to more Aperture Testing Mechanics, including hard light bridges (literally translucent blue bridges made out of pure sunlight, Aperture Laser Redirection Cubes, and funnels made out of pure energy that dragged you across the room slowly. Wheatley hated the funnels.

 _"Excellent!"_ exclaimed Glados, _"You are a predator and these tests are your prey. Speaking of predators, I was doing some research on sharks recently. You know who else murders people who are only trying to help them...?"_ she inquired.

Chell didn't bother acknowledging her. Wheatley opened his mouth and she kicked him lightly to tell him to shut it.

 _"The answer is no one,"_ Glados answered her own question, _"No one but you is that pointlessly cruel."_

Chell had to give Glados credit for her surprisingly imaginative insults... they would have been amusing if not directed at her. They had ranged from everything including insulting her jumpsuit, her weight (multiple times), her parents, her choice in idiot friends, the fact that she didn't have any real friends, and so on...

Although Chell tried not to listen, they still were draining her emotional energy... a person could only be talked down to for so long, after all.

Wheatley noticed her weary expression and gave her a warm smile and a thumbs up. She perked up a little and she strode into the next test with a little more spring in her step.

While solving the next test, they grudgingly listened as Glados hummed during the entire duration of the test. At the end she spoke again, _"I have a surprise waiting for you after this test. I'll give you a hint: It involves meeting a couple people that you haven't met in a very long time..."_

Chell's heart skipped a beat. She attempted to calm it; S _he's a liar._ _She's trying to provoke a reaction out of you like she always does._ But she couldn't help but let her imagination wander even a little bit...

 _"I'm getting choked up just thinking about it."_

Wheatley raised his eyebrows at her questioningly. She rolled hers in response and gave a slight shake of her head.

The elevator brought them to an old office room, deviating from the normal testing chamber routine. Chell and Wheatley walked in cautiously, holding their portal guns up as if expecting a trap.

 _"Initiating surprise in three... two... one."_

The room plunged into darkness and they edged closer to one another, Wheatley letting out a squeak of fear.

A loud party horn echoed in the room, _"Surprise!"_

The lights flickered back on and a ton of confetti rained down from a pipe above their heads, covering the two test subjects.

Besides the disturbingly large amount of confetti littering the ground, there was nothing else in the room.

 _"I made it all up,"_ announced Glados gleefully.

Chell tried to ignore the way her heart dropped slightly... she couldn't believe that she had even believed the lie in the tiniest slightest way. It was... horrible. Her dad was still dead.

She felt very much alone.

Wheatley gave a sigh of relief and slumped slightly, not noticing Chell's despondency.

 _"Oh come on. If it makes you feel any better, they abandoned you at birth, so I very much doubt they'd even want to see you again,"_ Glados said with fake sympathy.

Chell scoffed, remembering that Glados knew nothing about her. Most of the information Glados seemed to think she knew was falsified or lacking, and Chell realized that Glados shouldn't have had a testing file for Chell in the first place. She had never been a test subject.

Odd.

Halfway into the next test, Glados spoke up again in order to ruin her test subjects' day. _"You know, I kinda feel awful about that surprise... tell you what, how about we give your parents a call right now?"_

A fake telephone rang, resonating in the chamber, and a fake voice answered, _"The birth parents you are trying to reach do not love you. Please hang up."_

 _"Oh that's sad. But impressive... maybe they worked at the phone company,"_ Glados mused.

"Wow, that's... that's a load of bad luck right there. Sorry, luv," Wheatley looked genuinely regretful as he looked to Chell.

She simply stared at him, wondering if he was seriously that naive or had a very thick layer of sarcasm. Chell really couldn't tell. Either way, it was kind of endearing.

She patted him lightly on the back and they headed on to their next test.

* * *

 _More Portal 2 filler..._


	10. Chapter 10

Doug Rattmann followed the pair of test subjects behind the scenes of the enrichment center as best he could. He had been given a huge scare when Chell had disappeared into Glados' chamber, as it was one of the only places he couldn't access.

When Doug heard the explosions and saw the damage done to the central chamber from the outside, he had been sure that Chell was dead. He made to run out to find her, only to spy a young man escaping from the stasis chambers.

He watched as the boy ran towards the central chamber and came out only a minute later craddling an unconscious Chell in his arms.

 _She was safe, then._

He listened to their, or more accurately, Wheatley's conversation with her from his hideout. After so many years of isolation, Doug couldn't quite get himself to face other people. Not yet. He listened to their escape solution and followed them to the central chamber again.

That was when she woke up. Glados was still alive after all.

Doug was a coward, plain and simple, so he hid again, following the test subjects' arduous journey through challenging test chambers. Glados goaded Chell constantly, mostly ignoring the Englishman who accompanied her.

He knew exactly what Glados was going to do to them when she was finished, and he also knew that she was just about done with the testing. She had basically said so herself.

 _"I've got a surprise for you after this last test. Not a fake, tragic surprise like last time. A real surprise, with tragic consequences. And more confetti this time. The good stuff. Our last bag. Part of me's going to miss it, I guess, but at the end of the day it was just taking up space,"_ he listened to Glados talk to her prized test subjects.

 _You've got to help them, you know that, right?_

He glanced at his cube and kept silent, contemplating. It was true after all.

While Glados was busy insulting Chell, Doug lifted the panel he used to peek out, the crack widening and letting in harsh light.

 _Well, time for nothing._

* * *

Wheatley's large ears picked up on a strange sound behind him. Like a clanking noise...

His eyes drifted back toward the wall behind them, noting a large crack appearing.

Chell and Wheatley had both picked up on Glados' dark tone, hinting at the end of their testing experience, and neither wanted to find out what kind of surprise she had awaiting them this time.

Wheatley watched in shock as the panel fell straight out and landed on the floor with a **thud**!

Without thinking twice, he grabbed Chell's hand and forcefully yanked her toward the new exit.

"This is our chance! Run! RUN!" he encouraged her as she took in the sight of their escape route. It was a little too convenient, wasn't it?

She yanked back out of his grip and shook her head.

He grabbed her again, "We don't have time for this, Chell. Do you trust me?"

She stared at him with wide eyes and he stared into hers pleadingly.

She finally nodded and they ran with everything they had toward their freedom.

 _"Don't you dare go in there!"_ Glados yelled indignantly. She sounded genuinely upset, so it had to be the right course of action.

The two ducked into the opening and found a small exit into the areas outside the testing chambers. They ran down the catwalk, their boots pounding on the metal loudly. Wheatley threw his portal gun over the edge into the abyss below, letting go of the extra weight. Chell hugged hers protectively, unwilling to let the device go.

 _"You know, the irony was you were almost at the last test. Why don't you go ahead and do it?"_ Glados' voice was echoed throughout the huge area, reverberating off the walls and catwalks. A testing chamber opened up to their left and they veered onto another catwalk leading in the opposite direction.

Wheatley scoffed, " _Ha!_ Did she really think we were gonna fall for that?"

They pounded down the catwalks, breathing heavily, but still going on. They had to get out.

"C'mon, c'mon, luv. Keep going! You can do it!" Wheatley chanted encouragingly. It was sweet of him, but she knew she was more physically fit than him anyway.

A giant wall came hurtling toward them from the side and they jumped down to another catwalk below, the wall striking the metal above them. It rained down and Wheatley yelped in surprise as the catwalk they were on started to bend and fall backward, taking him with it.

Chell yanked on his outstretched arm and pulled him up to safety, then together they jumped to a less dangerous-looking catwalk.

"Oh... oh goodness me. I almost died. _Again_. This is just too much for little 'ol Wheatley in one day," he panted, placing his hands on his knees to recover.

His eyes lit up in fear as his head shot up, listening intently. "Gunfire... I heard gunfire. She just released some turrets back here." His voice shook. "They must've seen us... gotta be careful."

Chell was glad she had hung onto her portal gun, noting that Wheatley looked regretful at having tossed his.

The two started again back down the catwalk as they listened to Glados calling out for them in the distance.

Suddenly, Chell felt excruciating pain as a bullet ripped through her upper right arm. She gripped it, the surprise shocking her into freezing in place.

Wheatley reacted immediately, grabbing her and pulling her out of the way of the turret's view behind them. He dragged her up the catwalk and into an old employee hallway, then he found a small closet and pulled her in, slamming the door shut. All they could hear was the sound of their uneven, heavy breathing and gunfire coming from outside the hallway.

Chell felt all the fear and pain of the day weigh heavily on her and she slumped against Wheatley in exhaustion. It was pitch black in the closet, making her shiver in fear as her claustrophobia rose up. It must have been a side effect of being stuck in a stasis pod and from the dark crawlspaces in the earlier tests.

Wheatley noted her change in demeanor and immediately tried to figure out a way to cheer her up. She had been so stoic and strong during their testing experience... in fact, she was the only reason he was still alive. He could have never done any of those tests alone, and he knew it.

"Here luv, let me see that arm of yours," he whispered gently. His eyes glowed brighter than normal and his skin started to give off a bio-luminescent blue glow. Chell sat up straighter in surprise and he could see pale light dancing on her facial features.

"Also a side effect of my deviation," he explained with a smile, "I can glow if I want to. It's kinda neat for situations when you get stuck in a very dark small space with somebody, hiding from a homicidal maniac."

She seemed to relax a bit, so he kept talking to her and bandaged her arm up with part of his shirt. After awhile she had stopped shivering and they sat in silence in order to rest.

After much thought Wheatley spoke up again, "Okay, so you and I both know that in order to get out of here, we're going to have to confront _Her_ again."

Chell looked down at the floor, not liking the idea, but was forced to agree.

"So... I have an idea. You with me, partner?" he stretched out his hand again like earlier in the infirmary. She smiled warmly and gripped his hand with her good arm in agreement.

"Okay, so this is what we're going to do..."

* * *

 _Yay! Onto some more exciting stuff. About time, right? :) Also, sorry about the short chapters. Maybe I'll try condensing a few into one, haha.  
_


	11. Chapter 11

Glados was furious.

She was furious with her test subjects for running away (again), and furious with herself for not killing them both in the first place.

Her subconscious was quick to make adjustments in the mainframe that set new traps for the runaways behind the scenes while she consciously worked at the problem. They would probably be back to the central chamber, as she had been more than careful enough to seal off all entryways to Aperture long ago. So the only viable way out was through her.

Glados shook with anger and exhaustion, having been connected to the mainframe for far too long now. She had been so ready to be rid of her two new test subjects so that she could get some actual rest. They were guests who had _long_ overstayed their welcome at this point.

Her long hair fell across her face and into her lap, blocking her view of the holographic controls for the umpteenth time, and she smashed her hand through the holograms as she lost her temper.

"Alright! I'm done with these test subjects and I'm done with _you_ ," she gathered all her hair into a tight fist, yanked it to the side, and jumped to the ground, grabbing the sharpest piece of broken equipment she could find. She sliced her hair off near her chin and kicked it all into a tube opening in the ground.

"That was long overdue. Now I can concentrate on the more important things here," she was much more satisfied and returned to her seat, feeling a million times lighter.

"Okay, where were we?"

* * *

A dozen more mad dashes down hallways and catwalks later, the two escapees found themselves in another facility just outside the enrichment center.

"We found it! This is where the turrets are produced, it seems. Jackpot," Wheatley sounded incredibly pleased with himself. The two peered into a window where a machine quickly scanned a turret and plugged the information into the mainframe.

Outside the little office was a conveyer belt full of new turrets. They went down the line, one by one, and the machine decided whether or not they were good or damaged turrets.

They watched for a minute as turrets went down the line, responding to the machine as it spoke to them.

" _Response_." A computerized voice demanded.

The turrets would respond: _"Hello."_

Chell shivered as the little killing machines went down the assembly line to be used in the test chambers.

She did a double-take as a turret was placed in the target on the assembly line for questioning. It wasn't white like the other ones, just a black shell of a turret.

 _"Response."_

"Yeah, how ya doin'?" it asked back. It's voice was male and non-robotic, sounding nothing like the normal childish turrets she was used to. More importantly, the defective turret couldn't fire any bullets. She bit her lip in amusement as it was launched from the assembly line into the incinerator below. Harsh.

"Aw, yes. That's exactly what we need," Wheatley said, a glimmer in his eye. "Okay, so the turret in this room here is being scanned by the computer as the optimal turret template. All we gotta do is replace the good turret with one of the bad ones..." he turned to her to see if his idea was any good.

"You know, that way she can't use any turrets on us in the future. They'll be replaced with the garbage ones!" he grinned at his own brilliance.

"Hey, who you callin' garbage, pal?" a defective turret called out. He was immediately incinerated.

Chell laughed silently and ran down behind the conveyor belt to retrieve a defective turret. His idea wasn't half bad, actually.

Wheatley got the door open to the control center and stood in front of the turret template, another locked door blocking his path.

Chell entered the room behind him after successfully retrieving a bad turret and watched as he pondered this new conundrum.

"It's password protected," he explained.

"Yeah, let's do this!" the defective turret yelled out in her arms.

"Right, so I'm going to hack this door so we can get at it. Do you... do you mind turning around?" Wheatley asked sheepishly. She simply stared at him. "No, seriously. Turn around. I can't do it if you're looking."

Humoring him, she turned around, still clutching the defective turret and her portal gun, then heard a huge crash and the sound of glass falling to the ground. She spun around again to see Wheatley had used a nearby fire extinguished to bust a hole in the glass of the door.

Chell choked with laughter and shook her head at him as he dropped the fire extinguisher to the ground.

"Done, hacked!" he was overly proud of himself.

Chell opened up a portal inside the small template space and shoved the defective turret into the target area. "Locked and loaded!" it yelled in excitement.

Immediately the system started throwing out all the good turrets and replacing them with the defective ones. She was pleasantly surprised that his plan had worked after all.

"If we're lucky, she won't realize all her turrets are crap until it's too late," he cackled with laughter and wiped a tear from his eye, "Oooh, classic."

They high-fived each other with newfound enthusiasm and moved on to their next task.

* * *

They descended further down a series of catwalks and eventually ended up at their chosen destination.

Wheatley looked on proudly, "Aw, yes. I knew we were going the right way. A hunch, it was," he eyed the huge structure in awe.

Here they had made it to the neurotoxin generator. Chell hadn't expected it to be so... _huge_. What had been its original purpose anyway? It was pretty ridiculous that this science facility contained so much neurotoxin in the first place.

She glared at it with loathing... it had been the source of her troubles after all. Then shook her head, it was time to stick to the task at hand.

She joined Wheatley as he tried to gain access to the neurotoxin control center. "Oh my, it looks as if we'll have to hack this door open too. Hold on a sec..." he looked around for something heavy to use.

Chell glanced to the wall on her right and noticed a big red button staring at her. It just had to be pressed. She clicked it and the door clicked open automatically.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING WE DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT BUTTON IS- oh. It's open. Nevermind. Great job, partner!" Wheatley walked into the room, observing the equipment set before them. His elbow accidentally struck a large blue knob and a laser activated on the back wall, stretching across the room.

"Whoops. Anyway, I can finally put my deviation to good use! If I can overwhelm this computer system with my power, it should knock out the generator, right?" he asked excitedly.

Chell shrugged. _Give it a go, then._

Wheatley placed both his hands onto the control panel and let loose a shockwave of electrical pulses. The panel was full of shocks and little glass bulbs exploded across it. Chell looked out of the room toward the generator as it produced a horrible screeching noise. It was working...

Encouraged by Wheatley's success, Chell was going to make sure that the generator could never work again.

With a flash of inspiration, she shot a portal at the wall where the laser intersected with it, then ran outside the room to shoot another portal on the wall outside.

The laser shot out from the portal, striking the generator head on, having the desired effect. The generator screamed as the metal tore and it tilted alarmingly on its side.

Wheatley whooped encouragingly from inside the control room and she shot a different spot of the generator where it attached to the ceiling. The cables holding it up snapped in two and the gigantic metal container hurtled into the dark abyss below, taking all the neurotoxin with it. All that was left were some leftover dead cables.

Chell ran back into the room as Wheatley gathered her into a celebration hug.

"We did it!" he jumped up and down, half holding her. His eyes were glowing bright blue with the use of his abilities.

They felt a sudden tugging in wind and looked up at a damaged tube above. "Oooh, that's a damaged tube... we can ride it straight to her!" his eyes lit up with excitement.

Chell stepped back, avoiding the suctioning pull of the tube. Now that... was not a very good idea. But two out of three for the day wasn't bad.

Wheatley seemed to have other plans though as he yanked her over and they were shot up into the high-powered suctioning tube. Chell smacked him with displeasure, but couldn't resist a grin at the new-found adrenaline rush. It was like a giant water slide, except she was getting sucked through with air.

Chell stared outside the glass tube in wonder as the rest of the inner workings of the facility came into view. She spotted the catwalks they had traversed earlier and noted all the different testing chambers spread throughout the place.

"Whooo! I knew this would be fun!" Wheatley exclaimed in front of her, "Man, this place is _ginormous_. And it goes down for miles! Look at that!"

He cocked his head to face her, "We should be getting close! Oh, I can't wait to see the look on her smug little face. No neurotoxin... no turrets. She's never gonna know what hit her!"

She smiled enthusiastically back at him, trying to push down the nervousness creeping into her stomach. Chell wasn't quite sure she wanted to face Glados again, even without her defenses.

Then it suddenly got worse.

Wheatley was sucked into a connecting tube in the blink of an eye, heading down a different path than she was. Panicked, she almost dropped her portal gun, but retrieved it and hit the side of the glass tube.

"AHH! I'm going the wrong way!" he yelled to her, "Don't worry! Get to Her and I'll come find you! You'll be okay, luv!" he gave her a thumbs up reassuringly and then disappeared from view.

She was alone again as she hurtled towards the unknown.

* * *

 _I loved the idea of Glados with freakishly long hair, but it was time for a cut, haha. I know that was kinda weird, but... whatever. ;) I know it seems like I'm spitting out chapters like nobody's business, but that's because it was already written months ago ( & short). I've just been reading it over and double-checking for errors before I post it. :D  
_


	12. Chapter 12

Chell landed in the dark, clutching her portal gun close to her chest like a lifeline. It gave off a slight bluish glow, ready to be used, and provided her with a little comfort as she stepped forward in the dark.

A light flashed on, displaying a door in front of her. She went to read the sign that hung crookedly on it: This way to Control Center. She sighed to herself and resignedly twisted the handle to open the door. It was a pretty obvious trap, but what was she to do?

The door fell backwards with a loud **thunk** and she found herself entrapped within a glass box, being lifted up to the control center.

"I truly, _honestly_ didn't believe you were going to fall for that," Glados told her from above.

Chell was lifted into the chamber, Glados coming into view. Chell noted that the girl had cut off her incredibly long hair sometime in between her capturing the two test subjects and now. It now hung at a sharp angle toward her chin, as if Glados had grabbed a knife and done it without looking in the mirror. The change somehow made her more intimidating.

"In fact, I devised a much more elaborate trap farther up ahead for when you found a way out of this easy one. I guess I made the mistake of overestimating your abilities. My bad," Glados taunted her. She stepped down onto the rising platform and lowered down to where Chell was trapped on the ground.

Glados eyed Chell's portal gun with disdain, "I hope you brought something stronger than a portal gun this time. Otherwise you're about to become the immediate past president of the being alive club. Ha ha," she motioned with her hand to some invisible force.

Robotic arms swooped from the ceiling and dropped new turrets around the glass prison, surrounding Chell.

It took all Chell's self-control not to grin as the defective turrets tried to do their jobs, and failed miserably.

"It's my big chance!"

"Yeah, let's do this!"

"Where's a guy gonna get some bullets around here?"

They clicked, simulating gunshot noises, then burst into flames.

"I'm on fire!"

"Help!"

Glados wasn't amused and folded her arms "Wow, I see you were busy back there... well, I suppose we could just sit here and glare at each other until one of us drops dead, but I have a better idea."

A huge glass tube rammed into Chell's prison, busting a hole to her left. "It's your old friend, deadly neurotoxin. If I were you, I'd take a deep breath, and hold it."

Chell couldn't help the smile that lit up her face this time as she heard a familiar shrieking coming from the tube. _And here comes the cavalry._

Wheatley flew out the tube and hit the glass with his long-fall boots in front of him, shattering the side of the prison. He got up from his sprawled position on the floor and waved at Chell, "Oh, hello!"

Glados didn't move, only her golden eyes squinting in displeasure as she stared into Chell's. "I hate you so much."

"Oi, luv, the feeling is very mutual. Totally mutual," Wheatley stood, brushing glass off his pants. He looked up at Glados and seemed to physically shrink at her withering stare.

"U-uh... well, y'know, we just want to get out this place," he told her nervously, then looked at the ceiling in thought, "Alive. Very much alive," he added.

Ignoring Wheatley, Glados turned her attention back to Chell, "I'm afraid I may have to place you both back into stasis while I repair all the damage you've wreaked on my facility. How inconvenient. We will resume this conversation again at a later date," she waved her hand to summon more robotic arms to grab the two test subjects and started to rise back up to her favorite seat.

Glados' face was priceless as Wheatley vaulted from his position below her and grabbed her legs, tackling her to the floor in seconds. She was startled into losing her focus on the computer and Chell ran out of her glass prison in the confusion.

She watched with increasing nervousness as Wheatley wrestled Glados to the ground, pinning her arms down. "Let us go! Just summon your stupid escape lift and we'll never have to see you again!" he was angry, screaming into her face.

Glados wiped off her startled expression and tried putting on her best fear-inducing look, "Get your hands off of me, idiot," she sneered at him.

A robotic arm swung toward him and Chell knocked it away, warning Wheatley to hurry up whatever he was thinking of doing.

Wheatley staggered to his feet and dragged Glados upright with him to avoid the machinery reaching for him. Then Chell watched in horror as Wheatley pulled Glados' head into his palms and fired off electricity straight into her.

Glados' body convulsed and sparks went off where her implant connected at her temple, her face frozen in shock as Wheatley angrily shook her, "LET US GO!" he was yelling. And he wasn't stopping...

Chell was horrified. Wheatley had become violent toward Glados, completely out of character for him. It was seriously freaking her out, and she didn't necessarily want to watch Wheatley kill the girl.

She waved at him frantically, _STOP! STOP IT!_

Wheatley finally did and he dropped Glados, her body hitting the ground with a dull thud. His hands smoked and his eyes glowed bright blue, his mouth twitching as he looked up into Chell's frightened eyes.

"Oh... oh my," he whispered in shock. She took a step toward him and stopped when he smiled at her. "I didn't know I could do that. When I grabbed onto her I could feel... I could feel everything."

What in the world did _that_ mean? Chell's eyebrows scrunched with worry.

"I felt the entire expanse of her control, and I latched onto it. Luv..." he said, his voice growing louder with elation and he trembled. "I hacked into the computer. I have access to _everything_ now!" he clutched his head excitedly, eyes wide at his newfound ability.

"My-my power," he explained, his hands waving quickly at her, "I took control of her remote access to everything. EVERYTHING. You should feel this! Whoaaa!" he spun around, arms wide open. The panels around the room shifted and the lighting dramatically increased and decreased at his whim.

Chell shifted her weight uncomfortably, and gave him a half-smile in congratulations. She was relieved to glance and see that Glados was still breathing, even if smoke was still drifting up from the implant next to her left eye. She wasn't quite sure why she was relieved... it was all just too much to see Wheatley act the way he had, and she didn't want him to have to live with someone else's death on his conscience.

Wheatley noticed Chell's expression and stopped his self-congratulations, "Oh right, the lift. Here we are!" he motioned his hand upwards dramatically as an elevator rose up through the ground, ready to transport the two to freedom.

Chell lost all her trepidation and jumped into the elevator, ready to see the sun again. She vaguely wondered if it was day or nighttime above, as she had long ago lost track of any sense of time. There weren't exactly any convenient clocks lying about the place...

She looked up at Wheatley who had lifted himself using Glados' rising platform as he simultaneously rose the elevator to his level.

"Right! Escaping we go! I get to control it all! And I mean it _all..._ Oh man alive, do you have any idea how good this feels?" he looked at Chell, his eyes flashing even brighter as he mentally accessed more areas of the facility. It was really starting to unnerve her, she realized with a sinking feeling.

 _"Actually..."_ The elevator stopped abruptly and Chell held her breath in alarm. No...

"...Why do we have to leave right _now_?"

There it was.

Chell felt her heart drop at the same time the elevator floated back to the floor, Wheatley still standing high above her. _No... no no no. Take it back up, take it back up. We were so close._

"I did this! Little 'ol Wheatley did this!" his voice was sounding more manic, losing touch. Chell ran out of the elevator and waved at him, her eyes pleading.

"You... you didn't do _anything_ ," Glados spoke up, her voice small, yet threatening.

Glados pushed herself up to her hands and knees, looking up at Wheatley, "She did all the work." She was talking about Chell.

Chell's eyes widened and she shrunk under Wheatley's angry gaze, looking so alien on his sweet face. She shook her head at him frantically. _It's not true. Not true at all. She's just trying to make you mad._

But Wheatley couldn't hear her, of course. "Oh, _really_... Is _that_ what you two think? Well maybe I should DO something, then!" he dropped down closer to them and used a robotic arm to grip Glados around her neck, lifting her up to him violently and giving her whiplash.

Chell jumped back at the action and narrowly avoided colliding into more arms lifting up from the floor, threateningly. _What's he doing? What's he doing?_ She was losing him quickly and she watched helplessly as he practically strangled Glados, dangling her in front of him.

Chell jumped out of her skin when Wheatley whirled on her, his eyes harsh, "And don't think I'm not onto you too, _Chell_. You know what you are...?"

She jerked back instinctively.

" _Selfish_. I've done nothing but _sacrifice_ to get us here, and what have you sacrificed? Nothing. Nada. Zip. All you've done is boss me around! Now who's the boss? Who's the boss? It's me," he told her, looking fairly smug.

Chell did nothing but stand there and watch him, unable to wipe the hurt off her face. The confusion.

She watched dumbly as Glados wrestled with the arm, speaking hoarsely to Wheatley and grabbing his attention, "I _know_ you..."

Wheatley yanked her closer, ignoring her groan of discomfort, "I'm sorry, what was that?" his voice low and threatening.

"I remember you now," she kept speaking, "You were never a test subject, after all. You were that moronic intern they hired before I released the neurotoxin! Mr. Simmons, was it? Your aunt was the scientist-" she was cut off as he jerked her back and forth in anger.

"Shut up! Shut UP!"

" _What?_ You don't want me to tell your new _girlfriend_ there what a fraud you are? Pretending to be a test subject, just like her. You were one of them! An idiot intern that helped test the test subjects. NOT the other way around!" she continued, her voice rising in volume despite the pressure on her neck. Chell stepped back, horrified at the scene and what she was hearing...

"When you took control of my mainframe, I saw it all! You hid during the neurotoxin incident! You hid in a stasis pod! _And guess what?_ I know those stasis pods were all full. You pulled a person out just to save yourself. You're a _coward_!" her voice was shrill and she talked faster.

Wheatley was having none of it and he pulled her up to his face, raging in anger, "You're lying. YOU'RE LYING! I'm not a coward!"

She didn't back down, "YES you are! You're nothing but a moron they hired and a cowardly idiot!"

Wheatley finally broke, losing control. "I'M NOT-" he flung Glados into the elevator, shattering the glass around her. Her body lay still and unmoving.

 _"-A MORON!"_ Wheatley was seething, waving the robotic arms around the room uncontrollably. The lighting shifted around the place, flashing sporadically at his tantrum. Sparks raced around his body, his deviation on full display.

Chell took multiple steps backward, terrified. Wheatley had lied to her. He had lied and he was losing his mind.

She was going to die.

He continued to scream at the elevator, despite Glados' unresponsiveness, "WHO'S A MORON NOW?"

Wheatley used the powerful metal arms to pound on the top of the elevator, "CAN A MORON DO _THIS?_ " WHUMP. The elevator slid a few inches down into the ground.

"CAN A MORON." _WHAM!_ Harder.

"PUNCH." **WHAM!** The elevator was halfway into the ground, Glados disappearing from view.

"YOU." Sliding further...

"INTO. THIS." WHAM! _WHAM!_ **WHAM!**

 ** _"PIT?"_** She could only see the top couple inches of the elevator, huge dents riddling it.

"HUH? _CAN A MORON DO THAT!?_ " He used the full force of three robotic arms to slam the elevator down even further.

Chell fell backwards to the floor, shaking in fear and wanting to cry. She watched as if in slow motion the ground started to break apart from where the elevator was being shoved into it. The cracks reached her and she felt the floor give way beneath her body.

Her mournful eyes flicked up to Wheatley, the devastating betrayal she felt shifting to him full force, and his eyes met hers in response.

As she fell, she almost saw a tinge of regret on his face.

Almost.

* * *

 _Top ten anime betrayals..._

 _But seriously... Why, Wheatley? Don't worry, he'll be back. ;) In the meantime, this will probably be the last chapter for a few days, as I will be pretty busy this weekend. Thanks all!_

 _-Moe_


	13. Chapter 13

As Chell fell through the floor into the dark abyss below, she almost felt a moment of peace.

There was nothing holding her up or holding her back. Just the wind soaring against her body and a large void of nothingness. Compared with the intense action of her past... well, who knew how many days? She finally had some tranquility.

Her eyes closed, accepting her new circumstance... her consciousness started to shut itself down and she let herself relax for the first time in ages.

 _Wheatley would've hated this._

Wheatley.

Her eyes shot open, all momentary contentment lost as if it had been a whisper of a dream. Her mind had automatically blocked itself off to the reality of her unfortunate situation.

Wheatley had betrayed her and cast her down below. Maybe it hadn't been on purpose, but he certainly hadn't done anything to rescue her. In fact, after hijacking Glados' mainframe control, he had become self-serving, arrogant, and downright horrible. She couldn't believe it.

She _still_ couldn't believe it.

And had he really sacrificed someone's life to save himself when the neurotoxin flooded the facility? He had denied it when Glados accused him, and she wasn't exactly a pillar of truth herself. It was all too confusing... and it hurt to think about it.

After losing everything, she had gained a friend... and they were supposed to have escaped together. Seen the sunset together... watched the stars. She was going to be a normal human being again. How...

How dare he.

She squeezed her eyes shut, tears making their way up her face in the raging wind, her mouth trembling in both sadness and anger.

The darkness engulfed her as she lost sight of the enrichment center above and her heart quickened in fear. How far would she fall?

Her boots constantly pivoted her down, their center of gravity keeping her in balance as they were designed to. They would keep her safe from long-distance falls, but how long was long-distance? It certainly wasn't this, she decided.

She wondered briefly if she would black out before hitting the bottom.

As she was lost in her thoughts of despair, she was completely startled out of her wits as her boots connected with something solid, jarring her body roughly, then crashing _through_ whatever it was, to continue falling.

 _No way._

Chell was shocked to find she was completely okay after that surprise encounter, and changed her mind as she winced, pulling out slivers of wood from her arms. Apparently she had crashed through some wooden planks or something. But after a fall like that? It should've killed her. Or at least have done some damage.

While contemplating her sudden flash of good luck, she found herself falling into a more well-lit area, and the ground was coming up _fast_.

She closed her eyes automatically and braced herself for a painful fall, then her boots connected with the ground, sending sharp vibrations up her legs and she gritted her teeth. She opened one eye. Then the other.

She was alive.

Completely and utterly alive.

She shifted both her legs slightly to test for breaks... nothing.

Her legs felt a little sore and her arms stung with scratches and splinters, but otherwise she was okay. Honestly, if she hadn't braced for the impact so much her legs probably wouldn't be as sore as they were. The long-fall boots were a thing of beauty.

 _Oh, if you weren't just refrigerator boots I could kiss you!_

But seriously though, who designed boots that allowed you to fall for a good couple miles and live? Not like she cared. She hugged herself in congratulations, thanking the universe for her stroke of good luck. At least one thing had gone right.

And only a million others had gone wrong.

Chell finally came to her senses and started to observe where she had landed. In fact, it was extremely odd. She seemed to be in some old abandoned... factory? Facility of some sort? It was in ruins, and various fires burned old trash around her. She didn't see any signs of life, so that was a good thing.

Or maybe a bad thing.

She wasn't quite sure which she preferred at the moment. Her mind went into panic mode at the prospect of being stuck well underground for the rest of her life. It was absolutely _terrifying_.

It was damp, fairly dark, and chilly down here. She untied her jumpsuit and donned the rest of it on her upper body, trying to get a little bit of warmth. She patted her portal gun, glad to have its company, even if it was a bit useless outside the testing facility.

She fired various portals at different surfaces, testing for reactions. Nothing.

Chell figured that that was going to be the case, but she wasn't ready to abandon the device yet. It was her baby, after all. She hooked it onto her jumpsuit and began to traverse the unfamiliar terrain, readying to look for food, shelter, and a way out.

Even though she didn't feel at all like smiling, she forced one onto her face anyways. Her father had always told her to keep on smiling, and it would make her worries seem a little less important, so that's what she did.

 _And on we go..._

* * *

Glados was rudely knocked awake by a horrible deafening noise of metal being wrenched apart and an eerie feeling of...falling?

She was falling.

Glados, trapped in a plummeting metal and glass contraption was hurtling in free-fall through the abyss of the deep mines below Aperture. What a nightmare.

Pushing aside the pain in her head (no thanks to that moron), she worked quickly to ensure her own survival. At least what little hope of survival she could sufficiently calculate. Considering she actually had no way to process how long she had fallen for, she wasn't quite sure how long she had left until she hit the bottom.

She pulled herself out of the elevator through the hole where the glass had previously been shattered, noting the elevator had completely flipped upside down. She yanked upwards on it, trying to get on top and away from the dangerous falling contraption. If she managed to land on her feet, there was a smidgen of a chance that her boots could break her fall. But only a smidgen.

She tried hard to calculate her survival chances, but falling to your death tends to have a detrimental effect on brainpower. She had managed to pull herself almost free of the elevator when she was plunged into darkness, the elevator clipping something and spinning uncontrollably.

Finally there was light again and she was tossed from the elevator, her boots working to reassert her center of gravity. Then there was the ground and she was landing and she was crashing and there was sensory overload and then there was nothing.

* * *

Chell traversed the wasteland deep underground, admiring the sheer amount of empty space that lay above her head. Her father had once told her that Aperture had been built upon some old Michigan salt mines, but now that seemed like an understatement. These caverns were mind-blowing, tunneling down for _miles_. She realized that she had only ever seen the top floors of Aperture when she had gone to visit her father at work. Never knowing how much history it actually held.

All those skeletons in its closet.

Chell frowned, wondering for the millionth time how much her father had known about the Deviant testing chambers. Had he had any part of it? She wanted desperately to say no... perhaps his pay-grade wasn't that high.

That was stupid though, she knew. He had been one of their top scientists. At least, that's what he had told her. She wasn't sure what she believed, but since he was no longer with her, she chose to believe her father had been a good man and had nothing to do with the testing below.

 _But he took you to the stasis room where the test subjects were held. He did know._

She bit her lip and turned her attention to an old building, the bricks crumbling away at the side. She walked cautiously inside and looked around in surprise. It was an old office building?

The glass panes inside had long ago been shattered and frames that had managed to stay on the walls had tilted dramatically. The carpeting was faded and frayed, and the place was incredibly musty. She wrinkled her nose as another smell assaulted her senses, and she really really didn't want to know what it was.

Morbid curiosity had her turn the corner to investigate. After all, this place probably had an old kitchen somewhere. She was starving.

Speaking of starving, Chell was overwhelmed to find a room completely and utterly overrun with... potato plants? She closed her gaping mouth and pushed her way through the plants for the source.

Tables were strewn throughout the overgrowth and she pulled the plants away to investigate. A sign on one of the tables read, "Lily's Potato Battery Experiment." Adorable. This had been some kind of kids' science fair... how long ago?

The sign read the date '10-10-1978'. Chell was astounded at the sheer age of this place. She had known it was old... but this had been over a century ago. Lily would have grown up to have her own children who put projects in their own science fairs, then grandchildren. She would be long dead by now.

Chell stepped back to examine more tables strewn about, and was amused to find 90% of them were potato batteries. Then she located the source of the sheer mass of potatoes the room was filled with. A little boy's project had sprouted into a giant potato-making machine.

Chell smirked at the D- grade the boy had received; ironically his project was the only reason she now had a source of food.

She silently thanked the boy as she pulled off decent-looking potatoes and made her way out of the room with an armful of them.

Sitting on the front steps of the building, Chell chewed on her raw potatoes, trying to ignore the fact that they were totally disgusting and she could go for some butter right about then. Whatever.

She filled her pockets with more potatoes and made her way to the top of the building, as she had spied some catwalks protruding from the roof.

Minutes later Chell had made her way to another level of the salt mines, only to discover some more old buildings. She rubbed her hands together and smiled at her newfound luck. Then she saw it...

A large white wall had been placed against the side of the mine, stretching behind multiple buildings in a row. She lifted her portal gun with rising hope and fired.

A blue portal burst to life above the ruined complexes and Chell spun around, taking in various other portal surfaces scattered about the place.

Oh yes. Yes. Yes. YES.

She jumped through a portal she shot nearby and landed on top of one of the old buildings, getting a better view of the new area. The cavern stretched upward for thousands of feet. It was an incredible view and made her feel very, very small.

She scanned as far as she could see and stopped abruptly when she saw a large sign hanging high up, displaying the name of this facility.

Aperture.

The logo was much older and the wording was a different font than she was used to, but this was still Aperture. She closed her gaping mouth and took in the wording painted high on a metal structure protruding through the ceiling. Test Shaft 09.

What in the world was this place?

She jumped down from her perch and made her way to the building with the Aperture Logo hanging above it. Peeking inside she saw an entrance hall and several display cases. There was an old reception desk, the light above it flickering with age.

Chell wondered what the electric bill for the enormous structure cost Aperture. Surely Glados hadn't paid the electric bill...?

They probably had their own source of electricity. Whatever it was, Chell was astounded.

She made her way into the reception area and glanced at old newspaper clippings in the display cases. Stuff about purchasing salt mines in Michigan and selling curtains in the 1950's plastered the headlines in bold print. Ancient news.

Chell about jumped out of her skin when a booming voice blared around her, filling the cavern with a man's bass voice, _"Ladies and Deviants, astronauts, war heroes, Olympians, welcome to Aperture Science! You are here because we want the best of the best: and you are it. Now, who's ready to make some science?"_

A woman's voice piped up, _"I am!"_

Chell looked around, searching vainly for the source of the voices, _"Now you've already met one another on the ride over here. Let me introduce myself. My name is Cave Johnson. I own the place."_

She spied multiple megaphones riddling the facility inside and outside the buildings. The voice was coming from everywhere.

 _"That eager voice you just heard here is my lovely assistant, Caroline. She's the backbone of this facility, and pretty as a postcard. Sorry fellas, she's married. To science,"_ Cave Johnson announced.

Chell continued to search the various buildings scattered in the area... most were just office buildings and waiting areas. Her eyes followed the paths of catwalks reaching upward into higher levels. Some old elevator shafts also went up into the ceiling from a couple of the facilities.

 _"There's a thousand tests performed daily here in our enrichment spheres. I can't personally oversee every one of them, so these pre-recorded messages'll cover any questions you might have, and respond to any incidents that may occur in the course of your science adventure,"_ Cave continued.

Chell must've tripped something to activate the pre-recorded messages then. She listened carefully, hoping for a clue as to how to get out of the place.

 _"So those of you who volunteered to help us test the repulsion gel today, just follow the blue line on the floor. The rest of you who volunteered to be injected with praying mantis DNA, I have good news and bad news..."_ Chell noted as he spoke that old lines were painted from the reception area to each of the buildings, leading upward into unseen testing areas.

 _"The bad news is we're postponing those tests indefinitely. The good news is we've got a much better test for you: fighting an army of mantis men. Pick up a rifle and follow the yellow line. You'll know when the test starts. If any of the rest of you have some kind of laser-eye deviation, we could sure use your help,_ " Cave Johnson didn't seem fazed by his announcement. Chell's face twisted in distaste. She patted her portal gun affectionately... apparently the testing experience could have been much more brutal.

They had had some weird moral guidelines in the 1950's.

Chell shifted her gaze upward again, taking in the various routes to the upper levels. If she could follow one of the old testing tracks, it could eventually lead her up to the modern facility. And a way out.

Better than staying down here anyway.

But first she was going to finish investigating the old complexes, and then she was going to take a well-deserved nap on one of the couches in the reception areas... granted she not activate Cave Johnson's pre-recorded messages again.

* * *

 _Had to throw the potato batteries in there somewhere... ;)_


	14. Chapter 14

_Cave Johnson tapped on his microphone in annoyance. The stupid thing had shorted out again. He glanced up at Caroline who waited patiently at the other side of his desk._

 _"Yes, what is it, Caroline?" he asked expectantly._

 _"Well, sir. I was just... not to be impertinent or anything, but..." she stammered, avoiding eye contact._

 _"Just spit it out, Caroline," he said, his patience wearing thin. He wasn't used to her being jittery around him. Not anymore._

 _"The... 'Mantis men' incident, Sir? Why was that experiment allowed to go through? It was absolutely ridiculous-" she spoke quickly, anger leaking into her usually calm demeanor._

 _He held up his hands, ordering her to stop, "Look, Caroline. I approved that experiment myself, **and** -" his voice hardened before she could open her mouth again, "It sounded like a good idea at the time. The deviations those men displayed would've enhanced their genetic abilities a hundred-fold. If it had worked, that is. That was an unfortunate accident and it won't happen again," he reassured her. _

_Her face relaxed slightly and she shuffled the folders in her hands awkwardly, "If you say so, Mr. Johnson."_

 _Cave watched her, and a rare glimpse of affection softened his voice, "So... when were you going to tell me about your little secret project, Ms. Short?"_

 _Caroline's sharp eyes flashed upward, meeting his with a hard stare. He was asking sincerely, no rebuke in his voice. His face was soft, waiting for her response._

 _She shifted uncomfortably again, "Sir, I... I'm not sure what you mean." For someone as bright as she was, she was a terrible liar. She played with her red neck scarf nervously, and he knew she often fidgeted around with it while under stress._

 _"One of the lab boys came to me and said you were spending some time in the labs again. Thought he was going to get you fired for sure this time, ignorant jerk- anyway, you need to be more careful, Caroline. I don't give a hoot if you wanna run your own science fair down there, but it makes the boys nervous. A woman's place is not in the laboratory, at least not in this world it's not."_

 _Her face fell, knowing full well where this was going._

 _"So I'm going to make sure you have your own lab. It'll be on a separate wing, away from the brain-bots on the other side... you can play around with whatever you like over there and I'll approve it personally..." her eyes grew wide in astonishment, and he continued, "But this job comes first. You understand? You can mess around with science as much as you like on your own time. Do we have a deal?"_

 _Caroline practically shook with excitement, and couldn't even speak._

 _Her own lab._

 _She grinned at him and nodded enthusiastically, her long brown hair bouncing, and she nearly dropped her documents as she shook his hand._

 _He laughed at her, "Okay, okay. This is all on the down-low. Got it? Now go get some papers filed, Ms. Short."_

 _"Yes, Sir!"_

* * *

Glados regained consciousness, her head feeling thick and fuzzy. Where in the world was she...?

She tried shifting onto her back and winced as pain shot from her left leg, forcing her to stop moving. She grunted in annoyance and shifted her upper body to get a look at what was keeping her in place.

Oh, _wonderful._

She recalled that she had made a less-than-graceful landing when something had struck her from above. Apparently it had been the metal contraption of doom... a.k.a., the elevator. Her left leg was pinned underneath it, and she tested her other free limbs to make sure there were no other injuries to account.

Besides various scratches and bruises, she would be fine. She attempted to shift her left leg again so that she could pull it out, but her nerves rebelled and sent waves of pain shooting up her body, and she had to clamp her mouth shut to keep from crying out.

 _Get... just get off of me!_

Glados lost her patience, refusing to give in and die trapped under an elevator. How stupid would that be?

She reached over again, ignoring her screaming senses, and used all her upper body strength to pull at the contraption that was covering her leg. Granted, it wasn't that much upper body strength. But the elevator had landed in a way that had caused it to break apart, only a big metal plate lay against her, otherwise the full weight of the elevator would have crushed her leg to pieces.

She shifted the metal enough where she could yank her leg out, and she fell flat on her back, panting with exertion. Her leg throbbed painfully, but at least she could move it.

When she regained her strength, she sat back up to examine the damage. Her boot had busted in a few places, unlikely to hold up much longer. She could definitely feel that her bones were busted in a couple different places below her knee, and the cast of the boot was probably the only thing keeping it together.

If she tried to remove it, which she _wasn't_ going to do, then her leg would be exposed and then she would definitely not be able to get the busted boot back on. She decided to keep it on because at least that way she'd be able to keep walking.

As Glados pulled herself to her feet, her head spun dizzily and she squeezed her eyes closed, pushing aside the pain. She'd be fine for now.

She took in her surrounding area and made her way to a row of abandoned old buildings.

 _Let's see what lies in the ruins of old Aperture, shall we?_

A good twenty minutes later, Glados had made her way into an old office complex and found a supply closet. She pulled out some very ancient duct tape and wrapped it around her busted long-fall boot. That would hold it.

A man's obnoxious voice was ringing out around the facility, doing nothing to ease her growing migraine. She ignored him, lost in her own head.

She collapsed onto a creaky old swivel chair and spun slowly, deep in thought. Her head jerked in surprise as her implant gave off an alarming spark, a high-pitched whine ringing in her ears. The moron had damaged it. In fact, she wasn't sure if it was even working at all. Fantastic.

She fought back her growing anger because she needed to concentrate on her current situation. Glados would fight tooth and nail to get back up to _her_ facility and take back _her_ mainframe. It was her home and how dare he cast her down here?

Glados placed her elbows on the table next to her and dropped her head on them, exhausted. Her elbow shifted something prickly.

She was rudely interrupted as a flurry of feathers and angry squawking assaulted her, trying to peck her head and arms as she defended herself.

"What the-? Shoo! _SHOO!_ " Glados was flustered, angrily trying to shove the offensive bird away as it defended its nest. She was too close for the mama bird's liking.

The bird would not get the hint and it continued to dive at her, so she gripped her swivel chair defensively and swung out, riding it into a glass cubicle on the other side of the office room. She watched, rubbing her sore head as the bird, a crow, pecked crazily at the glass separating the two.

The bird eventually stopped, calming down enough to fly back to its nest on the desk, still watching her warily. She glared at it, "It appears we are at an impasse, avian creature," she growled.

The bird was blocking the entrance to the room.

Well, this feels somewhat familiar. Except this time she was the one inside the glass prison. She piped up again, "Well, I suppose we can just sit here and glare at each other until one of us drops dead. But I'd really rather not."

The bird cocked it's head, defensively sitting on the three eggs in the nest.

Glados sighed; it was going to be a rough ride home.

* * *

Chell continued to search all of the complex, digging out any useful supplies she could. She found an old infirmary and managed to re-dress the gunshot wound on her arm, glad to see that the bullet had gone clean through.

All the food she found was long expired... what a pity. She should've stocked up on more potatoes. A couple small ones were still in her pockets. Hopefully she would be out of here long before she starved to death.

Water was another issue, though. Despite having electricity, running water didn't seem to work. And any that did was absolutely disgusting and rust-infested. She doubted any of it was drinkable. How unfortunate.

Chell dove into her third kitchen raid, ripping the place apart, and started to dance in excitement when she encountered two water bottles in a cabinet. She ripped the first one open eagerly and downed half of it in one gulp. Knowing that that was stupid, she reluctantly twisted the cap back on and packed the two into her jumpsuit, thanking the universe for her multiple pockets.

She continued on her way and nosily peeked into the abandoned offices. Someone had left their coat down here, and she greedily picked it up, donning it despite the obvious hygienic issues. It was way too chilly for her to care, and the thing was literally over a century old.

Someone's voice came from a room nearby, and Chell whipped up her portal gun, readying it like a weapon. She turned the corner slowly, peeking in despite her growing anxiety, and nearly dropped the device in shock when she saw who was there.

Sitting idly in a glass cubicle was none other than Glados.

* * *

Glados quickly covered up her surprised expression and her eyes assumed their usual lazy position, watching Chell closely.

"Oh _hi,_ if it isn't the dangerous mute lunatic herself. Say, you're good at murder. Could you murder this _bird_ for me?" she cocked her head toward the desk near Chell.

Glados had nearly jumped out of her skin when Chell had appeared at the doorway, the portal gun aimed straight at her head.

What was the lunatic doing down here? Hadn't she allied herself with the moron?

This was either a very good thing or a very bad thing... Glados was still trying to decide how to feel about this turn of events.

Chell glanced at the bird that Glados had motioned to, taking in the full picture. She took a few small steps toward the avian, guarding her nest protectively, and reached into her pocket to produce...

A potato.

Seriously?

The bird pecked at it, pleased with the offering, and Chell pet the bird softly on it's back, the feathers fluffing in pleasure. How disgusting.

"What are you _doing_? Don't... don't touch the creature! That's... just kill it! It's _filthy_." Glados was appalled.

Chell turned to Glados and scrunched her nose at her, her tongue sticking out petulantly.

"Oh, wow. You are such an adult. Society must be so proud of you... it must be a lonely, adopted child thing. Petting disease-ridden creatures on the street in order to achieve some form of loving bond. How sad," she continue to insult Chell, and Chell ignored her pointedly, grinning at the bird as it pecked at the potato.

The room suddenly shook, the lamps on the wall tilting and the glass she sat behind cracked. Glados held onto her swivel chair and looked up at Chell, who had turned her attention to the ceiling in alarm.

"Did you feel that? That idiot doesn't know what he's doing up there. This place will explode in no time if he continues to stay in charge. I need to get up there and replace him, _fast_. That mainframe wasn't designed for his crude moron brain, trust me, " she explained, and Chell narrowed her eyes at her distrustfully.

"Look, we're at an impasse here. We could either work together and get out of this place, you with the portal gun and me with the brains, or we can go our separate ways and let the idiot above us blow us into oblivion." As if to accentuate her point, the room rumbled and Chell glanced at the ground, her face deep in thought.

Chell crossed her arms, the portal gun hooked to her jumpsuit at her waist. She had donned someone's old brown down jacket at some point, making her look like a crazed homeless person with a futuristic device and boots.

Glados sighed, "And... of course I'll let you go once I regain control of my mainframe."

* * *

Chell stared deep into Glados' eyes, searching her out. Distrust shaped her thin features as she slowly thought things through.

Chell watched as Glados held her hands up, "No tricks." She rubbed the bridge of her nose and sighed tiredly, "I _literally_ do not have the energy to lie to you."

She had to admit, Glados looked awful. The left side of her face where her implant connected to her temple was purple and bruised-looking, possibly from electrical burns. As if to add to this, the implant suddenly sparked and Glados' head jerked in response, her hand reaching up to grab at the implant automatically. She quickly wiped away her pained look, pretending it hadn't happened.

Her stark white outfit was dirty and ripped, and duct tape was wrapped messily around her left long-fall boot, holding the thing together. It must've been damaged in the fall.

Glados watched her expectantly, waiting for Chell's response. Chell looked away from her, closing her eyes, and sighed in reluctant acceptance. She shrugged and motioned for Glados to follow her out.

It would not be an easy way home for either of them.

* * *

 _Woohoo! New chapter! Glados vs. the bird. Who would win? Also, I'd hope it was obvious, but when there's a line break and no time has passed in the story, it usually means I've switched the story to the other character's point of view. ;)_


	15. Chapter 15

The unlikely pair set off and followed the blue line to what Cave Johnson had called 'Repulsion Gel Testing'. Whatever that meant.

A rickety old elevator door opened up for the two, and they shared a worried glance. Neither wanted to touch the ancient contraption... as it was nothing but a metal skeleton and a single rusty button.

"After you, lunatic. You're the test subject here, so _test_ the thing," Glados poked Chell in the side, evoking a death-glare from her. Chell stepped into the elevator and jumped experimentally, testing the rusted metal grating. Seemingly satisfied that they wouldn't plunge into oblivion, she yanked Glados' arm in and the two catapulted upward as the elevator activated.

"I didn't mean with me in it..." hissed Glados, dizzily trying to regain her balance. They stumbled out of the capsule and walked through a doorway sporting a number '1' in white paint. The first test.

 _"Alright, let's get started. This first test involves something the lab boys call 'Repulsion Gel',"_ Cave Johnson's booming voice spoke up, startling the two women. _"You're not part of the control group, by the way, so you get the gel. The last poor son of a gun got blue paint. Hahaha, all joking aside, that did happen. Broke every bone in his legs. Tragic. But informative, or so I'm told."_

Glados rubbed her temples and complained quietly, "Ugh, not this buffoon again..."

Chell simply ignored her and began scrutinizing the place up and down, trying to make head and tails of the test. There weren't any portal surfaces here. It made sense, she supposed, as she had no idea how old portal technology was. She had been lucky to find portal-friendly surfaces below them, but it obviously wasn't going to be a regular occurrence. What a pity.

Cave Johnson continued, _"The lab boys just informed me I should not have mentioned the control group and I should stop making these pre-recorded messages. That gave me an idea... make more pre-recorded messages! I pay the bills here, I do what I want!"_

Glados stalked to a ledge where the floor dropped a dozen feet, looking longingly at the entrance. "I have an idea, let's not do these cavemen tests and let's find a way out of this place instead. We'll find a shortcut," she crossed her arms, looking up to the ceiling. No way out there.

Chell walked over to the single button in the room, already accepting their fate in the testing business. They would test through every one of these chambers if they had to, whether Glados liked it or not.

At the push of the button a large lead pipe started spilling out bright blue gel into the ledge, covering the floor entirely. Glados peeked over, intrigued.

 _So this is repulsion gel..._ she glanced upward to the other side of the ledge where the exit lay. _How quaint._

Without thinking, Chell launched herself into the pit to land on the blue gel, and was thrilled when she was propelled back into the air. It was like jumping on a trampoline! Her dad used to play with her on one of those...

She landed on her feet where the exit lay and turned expectantly to Glados. _Well, let's go!_ Her head nodded to the doorway.

Glados sighed and mimicked Chell's movements, launching herself over the edge and to the other side of the room. Her boot was holding up with all the movement, so that was a good sign.

The two left the chamber in silence and headed to the next metal elevator to take them to their next test.

 _"Oh, in case you got covered in that repulsion gel, here's some advice the lab boys gave me: Do NOT get covered in the repulsion gel. We haven't entirely nailed down what the element is yet, but it is a lively one and it does NOT like the human skeleton, let me tell you..."_ Cave spoke up, evoking immediate worry from the two in the elevator.

They examined themselves quickly, looking for traces of any blue repulsion gel. Satisfied that there wasn't any, they continued their ride upward.

"Barbaric testing..." Glados growled under her breath. "This isn't _real_ science."

A few more tests involving bouncy repulsion gel later, the two women staggered into another chamber, both equally exhausted.

Chell placed her hands on her knees and motioned to Glados to sit. The girl complied without complaint and sat against the wall, waiting for Chell to do the same. The two sat in silence, mutually agreeing to take a break.

Cave Johnson spoke up again, interrupting the test subjects' break, _"I'm telling them, keep your pants on. Okay, this next test may involve some trace amounts of time travel. So, word of advice: If you meet yourself on the testing track, don't make eye contact. Lab boys tell me that'll wipe out time. Entirely. Forward and backward! So do both of yourselves a favor and just let that handsome devil go about his business."_

Chell glared at the offending megaphone in the corner, wishing she could portal it off the wall as she had Glados' security cameras.

Glancing warily at Glados, Chell shifted her body so that she was hugging the portal device protectively, and turned on her side to get some shut-eye.

Glados rolled her eyes, "I'm not going to take your precious portal device, lunatic. I could build the thing from scratch if I needed to." She crossed her arms, shivering slightly in the chilly underground breeze. She curled up a couple feet away from Chell and the two caught some much-needed rest.

* * *

 _Chell was awake again, her body wracked with pain. She looked up at the stark white ceiling in alarm._

 _Where am I...?_

 _She convulsed, her head feeling like it was splitting in two._

 _Somebody help me... please..._

 _"She's dying. Like all the others," an unseen voice spoke._

 _"She isn't going to die," another voice spoke authoritatively. It sounded familiar... if only her head wasn't pounding so. She felt tears fall from her eyes, unable to hold back the pain._

 _A man's face appeared over hers, the source of the second voice, and he plunged a needle into her neck. She barely felt it._

 _He lifted her up and his face sharpened into focus._

 _Daddy...?_

 _"You aren't going to die, right?" He smiled kindly at her, holding her small body close to him._

 _"But the deviation..." the first man started to argue._

 _"This is going to work this time," her dad silenced the first man harshly. He turned his attention back to her, "I'm going to make sure you live a long and full life; is that a deal, love?" he asked._

 _Chell nodded weakly, her eyes drooping as she fell into unconsciousness._

* * *

Chell awoke startled, the agonizing pain in her head gone with the dream. She hugged herself tightly, shivering from the nightmare and the cold seeping into her coat. Glados was probably freezing in her sleeveless outfit, but her heart was so cold she probably didn't even notice the frozen wasteland that was old Aperture.

Chell sat up, unable to fall back to sleep, Glados waking soon after her.

 _"If you're hearing this, then that means you're taking quite a long time on the catwalks between test chambers. The lab boys say that might be a fear reaction. So let's hustle and solve this thing!"_ Cave Johnson announced exuberantly.

Glados stifled a yawn and shot a peeved look at the ceiling, directed towards the disembodied voice. Somehow Chell knew the feeling... "Well, I suppose we won't be getting much sleep right now. After you..." she invited Chell.

Cave continued, _"Science isn't about WHY. It's about WHY NOT. Why is so much of our science dangerous? Why not marry safe science if you love it so much? In fact, why not invent a special safety door that won't hit you on the butt on the way out, because you are fired."_

A beat.

 _"Not you, test subject. You're doing fine. Yes, you. Box. Your stuff. Parking lot. Car. Goodbye."_ A low grumbling was heard in the background.

Savage.

Glados smirked in amusement, "I'll give him something; he's got gumption."

That was one word for it, Chell supposed.

Two test chambers later and a lot of avoiding splashing repulsion gel, the two women found themselves exiting the testing facility and walked straight out of a reception area.

 _"Congratulations! The simple fact that you're standing here means that you've made a glorious contribution to science!"_ Cave Johnson announced and a clapping track was heard in the background.

Glados scoffed, "Well, I certainly wouldn't go that far, but-"

 _"Say goodbye, Caroline!"_

 _"'Goodbye, Caroline'!"_ A woman's voice intruded cheerfully.

 _"She is a gem."_ Cave finished with a chuckle.

Glados stopped her muttering and stared into space, looking slightly haunted. Chell, not having noticed, bounded across the reception area and gazed at the various paintings on the wall.

One particularly large one was a portrait of none other than Cave Johnson himself. The man looked young, a glimmer in his eye... the look of a man and a dream. Chell didn't know how she felt about it, as the guy very clearly had had some kind of screw loose. She shrugged and pushed the revolving doors open to exit the facility, ready to leave.

* * *

Glados snapped out of her reverie and jogged, limping slightly, to catch up with the lunatic.

The man had irritated her, his constant ramblings were loud and full of arrogance. His dreams of scientific advancement got him nowhere. He didn't understand real science.

Then the woman had spoke up with those two little words... _Goodbye, Caroline._

Something about it bothered her, and she didn't know why, which only bothered her more. She pulled herself from her thoughts and joined Chell outside, more paths lay ahead of them.

"Oh, let's see. We can either take the catwalk of despair or the catwalk of utter uncertainty. I'll let you choose, seeing as your survival skills have gotten you this far," she goaded Chell lightly.

Chell ignored her and chose a path, and the two walked in relative silence.

Another elevator was prepped for them and they rode it upward to whatever awaited them next.

* * *

"Oh, no. You are kidding me," Glados' voice dripped with disdain. Chell couldn't help but reluctantly agree with her.

The two women stood at the entrance to a newer-looking building, the new reception area waiting patiently for them.

Cave Johnson's voice piped up as soon as they set foot in the doors, _"Greetings, friend. I'm Cave Johnson, CEO of Aperture Science - you might know us as a vital participant in the 1968 Senate Hearings on missing astronauts. And you've most likely used one of the many products we invented. But that other people have somehow managed to steal from us. Black Mesa can eat my bankrupt-"_ he cleared his throat.

 _"Right. Now, you might be asking yourself, 'Cave, just how difficult are these tests? What was in that phone book of a contract I signed? Am I in danger?'"_

 _"Let me just answer that question with a question: How many of you would like to make sixty dollars? Cash."_

Chell walked the new reception area slowly and found a new portrait of Cave Johnson. This one was from the 70's, Cave looking slightly older and serious. His sideburns grew out in classic 1970's style and he stared into her eyes with determination.

"So they built a new facility on top of the old one. What was wrong with these people...? Glados was disgusted, flicking at an old guest book at the receptionist's desk. She sneezed as a cloud of dust erupted from the book.

Chell turned her attention to the new Aperture logo displayed outside the window. It was similar, but this time spelled 'Aperture Science Innovators'. The round insignia was slightly updated as well, looking more like an atom than a circle.

 _"The testing area's just up ahead. The sooner you get through, the sooner you get your sixty bucks,"_ Cave announced. The tape squealed at the end, making Chell instinctively flinch.

"No... no more primitive science..." Glados complained, throwing herself on a waiting couch in frustration.

Chell silently agreed and sat on the couch opposite her nemesis, watching her closely.

Glados sensed Chell's attention and her eyes flicked up to the ex-test subject, " _What_? You have a better idea?"

Their staring contest was interrupted by a sudden quaking of the building, and a light fixture above the reception desk dropped from the ceiling, shattering glass everywhere within a five-foot radius. The shaking stopped, and Chell let go of the armrest she had been gripping so tightly.

Glados didn't give any hint at being affected, only shooting Chell an accusing glare. _You did this, lunatic,_ her eyes seemed to say. Chell was sick and tired of Glados' passive aggressive attitude, and laid on the couch, pointedly turned away from Glados. They'd be able to rest more easily here.

Glados seemed to get the hint and curled up on her own sofa in response, mumbling something about the incompetent idiot running her facility...

* * *

 _Savage_. _Some more Cave Johnson nonsense... Nothing you haven't heard before. ;) Sorry._


	16. Chapter 16

_Chell was sitting cross-legged on her floor, digging around in her hand-made toolbox for the correct instrument._

 _Ah, there!_

 _She lifted a tiny micro-laser from the tools, dropping down on her knees to bend closer to the little robot she was working on._

 _It's orange optic snapped open, gazing into her eyes soulfully._

 _Chell giggled, "Hello, there!"_

 _She turned to the other finished robot sitting idly, the two noticing each other for the first time and interracting in their own little robot language._

 _Blue was twitching excitedly, thrilled at his new orange partner._

 _The two were nothing more than balls of metal with an advanced A.I. core. Chell had invented them herself..._

 _ **Hadn't she?**_

 _Chell felt slightly confused... something about this was_ _ **off.**_

 _The feeling melted when the robots tittered at her cheerfully, and she pulled them into a hug, their cold metal bodies freezing her exposed thin arms. But she didn't care... she had created something extraordinary! Her!_

 _Professor C-_ _ **her dad...?**_ _The Professor would be so pleased with her._

 _Maybe they'd finally let her work in the labs with them. She could only dream of the highly-advanced systems and instruments that were available there. It made her shiver in excitement._

 _She had worked on these robots in secret for ages, waiting to unveil the surprise. The scientists had long been working on creating artificial intelligence, with little or no success._

 _And she,_ _ **Chell**_ _, had done it!_

 ** _Hadn't she...?_**

 _Someone opened her door, coming in unannounced._

 _She shifted the two cores behind her, staring wide-eyed at Henry Cadwin, startled by the intrusion._

 _ **Her dad looked so much younger... his hair less thinned and gray than she had known.**_

 _"I was about to go and talk to you... Pr-professor!" She stammered, barely holding back her excitement._

 _The Professor-_ _ **her dad?**_ _Watched her, his face an unreadable mask._

 _She continued, "Actually, I wanted to polish them up a little bit first... but I did it! I made the first working A.I.s in the history of Aperture Science. Granted, they're still a bit crude, but I'll polish them up with time. Do you want to see them?" She held up her first one, Blue, with pride._

 _"This is Atlas, he's uh..." her presentation fizzled out as she registered Cadwin's grave expression. He didn't seem very pleased with her at all. That wasn't in the calculations..._

 _ **Her dad-**_ _Henry stepped forward, and in one movement yanked Blue out of her hands and hurled him against the wall, the optic shattering explosively._

 _Chell jumped in alarm, shock written on her small face. Her emotions started to cloud her usually logical demeanor and she gaped at the professor, "What... what are you doing?"_

 _He reached over and plucked Orange out from behind her, holding it far away from her grasp. "No... what are_ _ **you**_ _doing?" he asked. His face was dark. Angry at her._

 _Why...?_

 _"No,_ _ **wait**_ _!" she reached out desperately as Cadwin turned, pulling out Chell's tools and started hammering at the little robot. The robot cried out to her and was silenced with a_ _ **bang**_ _in the optic. The orange light flickered out, and he was tossed next to Blue's shell on the ground._

 _Chell's mouth quivered, not understanding what he was doing... "Please... I thought..."_

 _"You 'thought'?" Cadwin was furious, whirling to look at her, his face too close to her own._

 ** _Daddy._**

 _His rage looked so unnatural..._

 _"Do you know how closely we have to watch you... do you know just what kind of dangerous technology you are meddling with, child?" his voice was low, fury bubbling underneath._

 _"I just wanted to help..."_

 _"You can help by working on what I told you to work on. You owe me, remember, little girl?"_

 ** _Little girl...?_**

 _"Yes, I know. But those experiments are for children-"_

 _"YOU ARE A CHILD. A_ _ **DANGEROUS**_ _CHILD!" His voice rose abruptly, and she pulled back in fear, shaking._

 _'Dangerous?'_

 _"But-"_

 _Chell was knocked onto her back by a brutal blow to the face._

 _She lay stunned, her mouth opening and closing, her brain not knowing how to respond._

 _He had backhanded her._

 ** _Her daddy never hit her._**

 _What was happening?_

 ** _WHAT IS THIS_**

 _Chell used her weak limbs to lift herself, staring into his eyes with deep betrayal. Tears gathered and dripped down her cheeks out of her control._

 _"Don't you dare cry," he warned her, his face unforgiving._

 _What do you mean_ _ **'don't cry'?**_ _How DARE-_

 _She whimpered out loud as he lifted his hand to strike her again, and she backed up in fear, cowering._

 _"I_ _ **said**_ _stop crying!"_

 _He grabbed her arms roughly, shaking her, "I saved your pathetic little life, and I told you never to cry. You're better than that! I made you better than that!"_

 _She desperately tried holding back her tears, but they fell, unbidden._

 _"What did I say? WHAT IS_ _ **WRONG**_ _WITH YOU-"_

 _"HENRY!" Another voice shouted from the doorway._

 _Professor Cadwin dropped Chell to the ground and turned away, reigning in his loss of control._

 _He picked up Atlas and P-Body and turned to shut her door, looking her in the eyes, "I'm going to need to make some adjustments. Now go do the research assigned to you." And he left without another word._

 _Chell lost all essence of control and sobbed on the floor..._

 _What was wrong with her?_

 _Why wasn't she good enough?_

 _Her daddy would never-_

 ** _Her daddy would never lay a hand on her._**

 _She loved him._

* * *

Chell's eyes shot open and she sat up quickly, taking ragged breaths.

What in the world was that...?

Her dreams were haunting her... why did she keep dreaming of her father?

She gathered her head in her hands, trying to reign in her anxious thoughts... pulling herself back to reality.

Glados sat up, apparently awake, and looking as well rested as Chell felt. They sat in silence, blinking in the dim lights of the reception area.

"I don't think I'll be getting rest any time soon," Glados grumbled, mostly to herself.

Chell rubbed her forehead, trying to ease her newfound headache, _Tell me about it._

Glados' head snapped up, staring intently at Chell.

" _What_ did you say?"

 _What...? She's already taking shots at-_

 _"'Shots'?"_ Glados repeated Chell's personal dialogue.

This time Chell's head shot up, apprehension written on her features.

"Did you _say_ something?" Glados' inquired again.

Chell shook her head fiercely. _Is she losing her mind?_

Glados' mouth dropped open, _"Excuse_ me?"

Chell only sat, stunned. What was happening?

"Wait a second, wait a second," Glados sat forward with newfound energy, "Do you mean to tell me that this entire time you were..." she didn't have to finish the sentence.

 _Telepathic...?_

Was Chell still dreaming?

"And you're just _now_ deciding to grace me with your voice? I have to admit, I imagined your voice to be more nasally and childish-"

 _'Sort of like yours?'_ Chell tried thinking directly, testing this confusing new discovery. It wasn't entirely registering yet.

Glados' nose wrinkled, "I do _not_ sound nasally."

 _'No, you just sound like a petulant child. Omygoshicantbelieveicantalkwhatishappeningwhat-'_ Chell's thoughts went out of control, not quite understanding this new situation.

Glados grimaced and closed her eyes, "Look, don't think so loudly at me. I never said I actually _wanted_ to hear your thoughts." She glanced at Chell thoughtfully, "Wait a minute, does that mean you can hear my thoughts too?" She looked guarded, eyeing Chell mistrustfully.

Chell pondered that and listened intently for Glados' voice. Nothing.

She shrugged, _'Maybe... I don't hear anything. But I have no desire to dig around in your head.'_ She shivered involuntarily.

Glados rolled her eyes, "That's a relief. Keep to yourself, nosy lunatic."

Her eyes lit up, "But I can't believe you do have a _deviation_! In the test chambers you never exhibited one... and there was no way they put a test subject in the system without a deviation. Mind you..." she continued, getting lost in her personal excitement over the science behind it.

"What might have caused it to flare up suddenly? Maybe the adrenaline from all the testing? Being in close proximity to my own genius, perhaps?" Glados mused. Chell wondered if she was kidding or not. It was difficult to tell. "I would love to take a look inside that head of yours." No thanks.

She was telepathic.

She could communicate.

For the first time in her life, Chell could completely interact with another human being, and it had to be _Glados_.

Glados seemed to sense her disappointment and glanced at Chell, "Well...? Aren't you curious?"

 _'Maybe it was exposure to the repulsion gel,'_ Chell shrugged.

Glados frowned, "I need to get a sample of that, now that you've reminded me."

Her face darkened, "I can study it after I kill the moron."

Chell's mind snapped back to the present, the thrill of the moment fading away, _'Quit that. I'm not letting you kill anyone.'_ Chell was irritated, tired of Glados' insanity.

Glados looked slightly irked, "I liked you better when you were the silent, broody type."

 _'Well I never liked you at all...'_ Chell countered. She was responding without thinking, having no control over what she thought. Her negative feelings towards Glados had been bottled up and finally had somewhere to go. Her thoughts increased rapidly with growing anger.

"You should calm down. That newfound ability of yours is going to overload your primordial brain if you keep-"

 _'You murdered him.'_ She said it.

"...What?" Glados frowned, confusion written on her face.

 _'You...'_ Chell was trembling with anger, unable to control her frustration. _'You're a cold-blooded murderer. I know what you did... I was there.'_

"'There...'?" Glados repeated softly. What Chell was saying registered.

 _'And I can finally say it. I was visiting my daddy and you killed him. I'll never, ever, forgive you for that.'_ She shook, her head aching with effort. She didn't know what to say to Glados, she only sent over waves of anger and frustrated sentences. Flashes of her father's face and memories of the day intruded into Glados' own confused thoughts. It was liberating as well as terrifying.

Glados sat on the couch, a wide-eyed stare plastered on her face.

"You were never a test subject..." her voice was quiet.

 _'NO! I'm not! I don't know what kind of sick game you-'_

"You're _his_ daughter," Glados interrupted, her voice sounding raw. Chell's emotional bombardment was physically hurting her head...

 _'Don't you dare get angry with me. That's my job. My right,'_ Chell continued. What was wrong with her...? This wasn't how Chell was supposed to communicate with a person.

It wasn't how she had ever pictured it at all.

And she couldn't get herself to stop.

Glados looked visibly upset, _"You..."_

 _'Shut up! Just stop talking! No wonder Wheatley lost his mind, trying to talk sense into you. You only **destroy** everyone you touch! What is **wrong** with you?'_ Chell practically screamed in Glados' head.

Glados flinched and held her head gingerly in her hands. She looked up at Chell, pain in her eyes. She whispered,

"I _hated_ him..."

Chell fell silent, looking away from Glados. She got up and ran out of the building, eager for some fresh air, or whatever you called the air down there. She couldn't stand to look at the pale woman anymore.

And Glados sat on her couch, hugging herself bitterly.

Chell was Henry Cadwin's daughter. Typical.

She was just like him.

* * *

 _Yay, you get two chapters this time! I'm sorry about all the angst... there will be some angsty moments, but I promise it'll get better. I can't wait to introduce everyone else into the story. :)_


	17. Chapter 17

Chell sat on the old catwalk outside the building, her feet dangling over a pit of unsanitary water. Her head ached from the heated exchange and her face burned with shame.

Her first real conversation had gone terribly wrong.

Well, that wasn't really her fault, was it? Glados wasn't exactly the first person she would have chosen to have a real conversation with, and nothing she had told Glados was untrue.

So why did she feel so guilty?

She sighed and ran her hands through her hair, messing up her ponytail. Why now? Why had she suddenly developed telepathic abilities...? She could only imagine the type of conversations her and her father could have had. He would've been so happy.

An image of her father's angry faced flashed into her conscious thoughts and she placed her fist on her chin, pondering grimly. She had already forgotten about the strange dreams... although they certainly hadn't felt like dreams.

Her thought processes were rudely interrupted by the sound of Glados stepping onto the catwalk, the metal jarring with each step.

"Look, I want to get you out of my hair as much as you want me out of yours, so let's finish these so-called tests and get out of here," Glados told her, standing behind Chell on the catwalk.

Chell refused to respond, afraid of what might slip out. She pulled herself into a standing position and headed straight down the catwalk without a word. They jumped into another elevator, the air tense between them.

Cave Johnson decided to fill in the unnerving silence, _"Great job, astronaut, Deviant, war hero,-"_ the tape fritzed out and continued, _"This thing on?"_ A tapping noise was heard, Cave hitting the microphone with a pen or something.

 _"Hey, that thing's called an elevator. Not a bathroom."_

Chell stifled the urge to smile at Glados' appalled expression, eyeing the floor of the lift with disdain.

The two stalked into their next set of tests, awaiting whatever crazy thing that old Aperture decided to throw at them.

Chell flicked a red button in the first test, resulting in a large overhead pipe dropping out gallons of orange gel.

"Fantastic. They decided to go with a new color scheme. Very retro," Glados remarked sarcastically.

 _"This is what the lab boys call 'Propulsion Gel',"_ Cave Johnson spoke up, the recording activated at the push of the button. _"Since injecting people with speed-inducing Deviant DNA causes rapid aging and other symptoms we will not discuss here, we decided to go with something that would give a regular human non-human speed with only half the risk."_

Chell stepped forward, intrigued. Here goes nothing.

She ran forward, sliding onto the orange gel with ease, her body rushing forward with increasing momentum. She hadn't predicted just how quickly she would slide, and slammed straight into the wall.

She fell on her behind and rubbed her stinging nose, ignoring Glados' guffaw of amusement on the other side of the chamber.

"Priceless. I wish I had a tape recording of that. Maybe I'll have you recreate the little scene for me before you go," she snickered.

Chell only shot her a hard look, still refusing to talk to the girl.

Glados slid more carefully on the slick orange gel, measuring herself against Chell's speed. She slid gracefully to a halt next to Chell and they exited the chamber.

* * *

Chell hadn't said, or thought, a word toward Glados since her little episode in the foyer. That suited Glados just fine. She was used to it anyway.

Going through all these testing chambers was seriously draining her stamina though. Her head was pounding, the damage Wheatley had done was taking its toll, and Chell's mind-yelling hadn't helped to ease it at all. She was having a lot more difficulty hiding her troubles, her leg buckling occasionally and vertigo washing over her behind Chell's back.

There was no way she was going to fall, figuratively or literally, in front of the test subject. She acted as naturally as she possibly could, hiding the agony her head caused her skillfully behind a mask of stoic calmness. She took that lesson from her ex-test subject.

* * *

Chell jumped in excitement as she spied an employee exit high ahead the test chamber. Across from it, over an empty space the size of a football field, was a white wall. Portal conducting material.

 _Here goes nothing._

She shot an orange portal at the wall, stomping on the ground with triumphant success. The walls had more and more recently been able to produce portals, making their job of escaping go much more smoothly.

She shot orange propulsion gel in a long line before the connecting portal and left a puddle of blue repulsion gel at the end so she could get a nice jump across the empty space.

Chell took a deep breath, ran, jumped, and she flew through the air with a grin. She landed gracefully on the other side, her boots reverbrating off the catwalk, the exit door just ahead. Chell looked down and motioned for Glados to follow her.

* * *

Glados watched Chell's stunt with growing reluctance. It was ingenious, she'd give her that.

She took a deep breath and took a running jump onto the gel, her head and leg protesting with the sudden movement, and flew out the portal and onto the catwalk as Chell had. Her breath hitched as her mind was overwhelmed with painful sensory information, and she felt something crack in her calf, the damaged boot unable to keep up with the impact.

Her vision blurred and she lost her balance.

 _Notnownotnownot-_

* * *

Chell was fiddling with the door when she heard Glados land behind her, the catwalk shaking. She turned briefly to point out the rusted lock and felt a strange twinge of pain in her head.

She turned just in time to see Glados fall.

Glados doubled-over, clutching her head and dropping to her knees, a whimper escaping through her contorted features.

 _What the...?_

Chell rushed over in alarm, reaching out to the fallen girl automatically, _'Are you alright?'_

She snatched her hand back as Glados slapped it away.

Did she care?

Chell set her jaw and half-lifted Glados, who cried out, "Let... let go of me!" her teeth were clenched, her eyes screwed shut. Chell stubbornly refused and held onto her tightly. The girl was hunched over, her feet dragging slightly as she tried to keep up with Chell's movements along the catwalk. Chell kicked open the stubborn door and dragged Glados inside, gently sitting her down against the wall.

They were in a small control room similar to the one her and Wheatley had barged into while destroying the neurotoxin generator. This one was much more outdated, and a few old paintings lined the walls. A chipped white coffee cup that said 'Best Dad Ever' was lying on its side on an old office desk.

Glados curled defensively, unaware of her new surroundings and shivered against the onslaught of painful waves her injured head produced.

Chell reached out and touched the broken implant lightly, _'It's hurting you, isn't it? Why didn't you say anything...?'_ Glados reactively pulled back, wincing at the touch.

"The moron..." Glados spoke, "...It's damaged and I can't repair it. Not until I get back to my lab," she shut her eyes, covering the piece of technology with her hand to block it from Chell's view.

Chell sat silently next to Glados, unsure how to help her. Wondering if she should.

In the silence she compared her own long-fall boots to Glados' gray version, getting a good look at Glados' shabbily taped up left boot. The cuff where her leg extended from the boot was stained red, her white pants unable to hide the injury well enough.

Chell gaped, _'Is your leg injured too?'_ and reached toward it, ready to take the broken boot off.

Glados flinched, pulling her leg back, "No..." she grit her teeth, anxiety gripping her. "Leave me alone... just... just go away."

She added, "You _know_ you want to."

Did she...?

Thinking of everything Glados had done and said to her... then yes; Chell did want to leave her here.

But Chell was better than that, and she would prove it.

She leaned over and gripped the broken boot, Glados too weakened to fight back. Chell gently removed it, her face grim. Glados' leg was badly mangled, her pant leg drenched in blood. Chell's own leg throbbed sympathetically.

Glados sharply inhaled, biting her lip when Chell rolled up the hem of the pant leg to examine the physical damage to the limb.

 _'This is probably broken. I don't know exactly how or where, though. And there are pieces of your broken boot embedded in your skin,'_ she rebuked her, shooting her a look. Glados didn't respond. _'If you're really so smart, you should have known better.'_

Glados groaned, "And what was I _supposed_ to do? Sit and wait for a doctor to come fix up my leg before I could go bounding back up to my _-hngh_ " she cut off with a short cry, trembling harder and holding her head in her hands.

She stopped talking and waited in silence while Chell got up and rummaged around the room, looking for something.

A minute later she emerged victorious with an old first aid kit, displaying it proudly. _'This should have something useful.'_

She popped it open and dug out gauze and bandages. An old bottle of painkillers was in there, but was well over a century past its expiration date. She threw those out.

Glados lay propped against the wall and stayed still as Chell tried her best to wrap the injured limb with the few materials she had. Glados didn't react at all, only shivering with her eyes screwed shut.

When Chell had finished her handiwork, Glados slid to the ground, hugging herself and facing away from Chell. She was deeply disconcerted by the test subject's sudden benevolence toward her and chagrined by her own display of vulnerability. She wanted very much to be alone, but the woman wouldn't leave.

"Thanks for the assistance, but you can leave now," she sharpened her voice, still facing away from Chell.

Chell didn't stir, but sat propped against the wall with her arms folded. _'I'm not leaving here without you. We agreed to work together, and that's what I'm going to do.'_

She paused, _'I'm not a liar, like you.'_

Glados didn't comment on the last part, only gritting her teeth, "Well, that leaves us at another impasse because I'm not getting up," as if she had any choice in the matter, "and you _aren't_ carrying me."

She added, "That's just being practical, by the way. You can't test and carry me. Also, I would rather die."

Chell rolled her eyes, deciding to change the subject matter. She had Glados' undivided attention, after all, _'You knew my dad.'_ It wasn't a question.

Glados tensed and shut her eyes, ignoring the pounding in her head. "Of _course_ I knew him. I knew every single scientist and employee in Aperture. Even the dumb interns."

 _'You said you hated him...'_

"I hated a lot of people. I thought that would have been obvious."

Chell paused in thought, then asked, _'Can you... can you say one positive thing about him? Or are you incapable of that...?'_

Why was she asking her this?

Glados was silent for awhile and Chell thought she had decided to give her the silent treatment.

"He... saved my life," Glados' voice was almost a whisper.

 ** _"I saved your pathetic little life..."_**

Chell shook her head, a frown creasing her forehead... it had only been a dream.

 _'So you killed him in return?'_

"He didn't do it for me," Glados spat venomously, "It was for _him._ It was all for him. He was just like the rest of them..." she trailed off, wincing as her outburst caused another jolt of pain in her head.

 _'My dad never-'_

"Don't delude yourself; your father was no more an angel than the rest of Aperture was. No one in this place was innocent."

 _'Even me...? Even those test subjects frozen in stasis?'_ Chell tried to bite down her rising anger. She had tried to converse with Glados in order to distract her, but was only making their problems worse.

Maybe she was trying to get angry so that she could storm off and leave Glados alone without any residual guilt. Maybe not so innocent...

"I _saved_ those test subjects! They are so much better off now than they ever were before. All they have to do is sleep..."

She paused, reigning in her anger for the sake of her own head, "Do you know what would have happened to them...? Ever since Aperture was founded, they have been testing _Deviants_. They test for deviations that are useful, and if they are, they cut you up and use your DNA to sell temporary enhancers that give the average, _ordinary_ person a deviation for a limited amount of time... I believe you are already aware of this technology."

Chell was; The entire world was a black market of DNA enhancers and Deviant black markets. It's why her father had hid her so well from society. Deviants lived in constant fear because of places like Aperture.

Glados continued, "If a test subject turns out to be less-than-useful, then you also know what happens to them... firsthand. I've watched the process thousands of times in my life and I oversaw the testing myself for many years. Trust me, those people are better off in cryo-sleep."

She wasn't wrong, but... _'Why did you wake me then?'_

Glados scoffed, "That was an accident. Whoever saved you, and I'm assuming it was Cadwin, probably screwed up the process and it automatically woke you up later... I decided to test you because I happen to really enjoy Deviant research. It wasn't anything personal."

 _'Why did they keep you around, then? You have a deviation, don't you? Your eyes...'_

"Are a mutation caused by my deviation. Lots of Deviants have differing effects on their personal appearance, but you've probably never seen them because most try to cover them up in order not to be targeted by bounty hunters."

"To answer your question... yes... my deviation is a physical RNA change, unlike most deviations in the Factor 4 section, such as yours. Mine can't be sold as a DNA enhancer because it kills anyone who tries to use it."

Chell fit the pieces together, _'Including you.'_

"I... have a higher neuron count than the average person. I can multitask as well as any computer, which made linking to the computer mainframe so easy. But it overwhelms the brain and ends up killing anyone who develops it by the age of four..." She drifted off, feeling drowsy.

Chell prompted, _'So the implant then...'_

"It was developed by your father in order to keep me alive... He saved me, and in return I...worked for them," she said bitterly.

 ** _"I made you better than that!"_**

Chell bristled, _'But you didn't have to. You can't blame my fa-'_

" _Don't._ Don't tell me what I..." Glados' voice cracked, and she took a deep breath, "I've always been here as far as my memories go... this is the only place I've ever known. But it never mattered to me; I was only in it for the science."

A heavy sadness sat in Chell's heart as she tried desperately to fight against the crumbling facade that was her father.

Her daddy.

She shifted uncomfortably, watching Glados occasionally shudder in pain, still facing away from Chell. She had almost decided to leave Glados here, and suddenly she couldn't go through with it.

 _'We... we still have to get out of here. You can't exactly fix your headpiece down here in the 1970's,'_ Chell remarked, shaking Glados' shoulder gently.

Glados grunted and squirmed away from Chell's offending hand, "I told you to forget about it."

Chell stubbornly set her face in determination and grabbed Glados under her arms and roughly yanked her into a sitting position. She grimaced as the portal gun on her hip accidentally dug into Glados' side with the pointed metal tips.

"Ow! You _stabbed_ me! What is _wrong_ with yo-" Glados shrieked in surprise, her head spinning with the sudden movement. She slumped against the wall and glared at Chell, "What do you think you're doing...?"

Chell had turned around and bent down on her knees, motioning for Glados to get on her back.

"You're kidding me."

 _'Nope; it's the only feasible solution... I think you'd have to agree with me here.'_

"It's... _ridiculous_. I'm not a _child_ ," Glados told her irritably, sounding downright petulant.

Chell took a deep breath, _'Then stop acting like one... just grow up and get on before I change my mind. You don't actually believe that you would prefer to die down here, do you? That would be too easy and convenient for you.'_

A challenge then.

Glados' face twisted in irritation and she summoned her strength to pull herself up, half-falling onto Chell's back.

"This is mortifying," commented Glados dryly.

Chell adjusted her posture so that she could hold onto Glados' injured leg in one hand and utilize the portal gun with the other. Glados just had to hang on... in fact, she was surprisingly lightweight.

The two exited the control room through the connecting doorway and found themselves in another office center. They left the decrepit building and ended up outside on another series of catwalks.

Chell inwardly groaned, it was like a _maze_.

Then her growing frustration increased ten-fold when Cave Johnson spoke up again, his voice filling up the vast caverns around them.

 _"Thank you- I can't believe I'm thanking these people - for staggering your way through the Aperture Science propulsion gel testing. For a change you've made some great contributions to society, and for that, humanity is grateful. If you had any belongings, pick them up now. I don't want any sticks or newspapers cluttering up the place."_

 _"For many of you I realize sixty dollars is an unprecedented windfall, so don't go spending it all on... I dunno, what do these people buy anyway, Caroline? Beard dirt? Tattered hats...?"_

"Lovely parting message. I won't miss that contagious scientific enthusiasm," Glados remarked.

Feeling good about making their way up to new levels of Aperture, Chell energetically bounded into a slightly newer elevator, Glados hanging on for dear life.

The elevator jerked to a halt halfway up to a series of catwalks above their heads. Below them lay a large chamber filled with cement blocks and pillars.

"We're too far down to climb up to those exit doors," Glados noted. "You'll have to jump down and we'll find a way out of here."

Chell did so, Glados grimacing at the landing. Her exposed foot was freezing without the protection of her boot. She was beginning to hate the cold... in fact, she hated everything down in old Aperture...

 _"Welcome to the enrichment center."_ A rough cough was heard.

Including HIM...

 _'What is up with this guy?'_ Chell wrinkled her nose in annoyance. Cave Johnson was making more pre-recorded messages and they would never escape it...

 _"So the bean counters told me that we literally could not afford seven dollars worth of moon rocks, much less seventy million."_

Moon rocks? What was he going on about this time?

 _"Bought 'em anyway. Ground 'em up and mixed 'em into a gel,"_ Cave Johnson told them. He sounded older, coughing every now and then.

 _"And guess what? Ground up moon rocks are pure poison. I am deathly ill,"_ he growled.

That explained it, then.

"What's over there?" Glados pointed to a series of networked tubes in the center of the room. They were transparent and a white gel could be seen flowing through them.

 _'The... moon rock gel, maybe?'_ Chell pondered, looking closer.

 _"Still, it turns out they're a great portal conductor. So now we're gonna see if jumping in and out of these new portals can somehow leech the lunar poison out of a man's bloodstream. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Let's all stay positive and do some science,"_ he coughed again.

 _"Caroline... could you please bring me some more pain pills?"_ he asked quieter, ending his message.

 _"Yes, sir. Mr. Johnson."_

Glados shivered, feeling a chill in the air.

Chell gaped, turning her head to look Glados in the eye and not quite making it, _'Did he say portal conductor?'_

Glados smiled devilishly, "That he did. Go ahead and bust it open... you're great at destroying things."

 _'Gee... thank you,'_ Chell sat Glados down by a pillar on the other side of the room and grabbed the heaviest-looking cement block she could physically carry. She tossed it at the tube, shattering it. White gel streamed out and covered the ground in front of her.

 _Here goes nothing..._

Chell shot a portal at the gel pool and held her breath. An orange portal erupted and she whooped silently.

She turned to Glados with a thumbs up and only received a shrug in return.

What a little twit.

Using the white moon gel that Glados quickly dubbed 'conversion gel', they made their way up the pillars through multiple portals and ended up climbing a four-story high length where the entrance door was situated.

Chell pushed open the door with her free hand and they found themselves (once again) in a long-abandoned reception area. This one was newer than the other two had been, sporting portraits of an older Cave Johnson and someone else...

They were rudely interrupted by Cave Johnson's boisterous voice booming over the speakers in the lobby, startling the two yet again.

 _"All right, I've been thinking... when life gives you lemons? Don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!"_

Chell sat Glados down on a waiting chair, rubbing her temples tiredly as she took a short break.

 _"Get mad!"_

Glados smirked in agreement, "Yeah."

 _"I don't want your stupid lemons! What am I supposed to do with these?"_

"Yeah!" Glados sunk into her chair, her eyes gleaming.

 _"Demand to see life's manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons! Do you know who I am...? I'm the man who's going to burn your house down! With the lemons!"_

"Yeah! Burn his house down! Burning people. He says what we're all thinking."

 _"I'm going to get my engineers to build a combustible lemon that burns your house down!"_ Cave Johnson finished his rant with a bang.

"Oh, I like this guy," Glados' head lolled against the back of the chair with a satisfied smirk.

Chell stared at the pale woman in bewilderment... _'What is seriously wrong with you?'_ she asked.

Glados didn't respond, only staring tiredly at a portrait hanging on the wall in front of the chairs. The portrait was of Cave and another woman, presumably his assistant.

Glados felt deep discomfort staring at the woman in the picture, frowning at the troubling thoughts just outside her grasp. The woman's thin smile shifted and then she was screaming at Glados, her eyes sparking. Glados blinked, the woman back to normal. She shook her head slightly... she was incredibly tired. Her head was only messing with her.

Chell followed Glados' line of sight and inspected the portrait up close. The woman looked disturbingly familiar, but also just outside Chell's reach. She had long brown hair and brown eyes and she sported a vintage white dress and red neck scarf. Cave looked older, this time he had grown out a mustache. Must've been the style at the time. It all looked outdated to her.

 _"The point is: If we can store music on a compact disc, why can't we store a man's intelligence and personality on one? I have my engineers figuring that out now..."_ Cave Johnson spoke up, sounding much more subdued.

Glados closed her eyes and started to tremble again, suddenly feeling ill. She couldn't feel her leg anymore and her head was constantly pounding... she couldn't think.

The woman was still staring at her, judging her.

 _"Brain mapping. Artificial intelligence. We should have been working on it thirty years ago."_

Feeling her anxiety peaking, Glados curled into a ball on the chair, clutching her head and trying to drown out Cave Johnson's voice...

Chell sat up straighter, turning her attention from Cave's droning to Glados.

 _"And I'm gonna say it on tape so everyone hears it a hundred times a day..."_

 _'Glados...? Are you okay?_ ' she got up, surprised that she was genuinely concerned by the woman's increasingly unsettling behavior.

 _"If I die before you people pour me into a computer, I want Caroline to run this place."_

 _Yes, sir, Mr. Johnson._

 _ **No** , sir, Mr. Johnson..._

Glados groaned aloud and wrapped her arms around her head tighter, shaking more violently.

 _What's wrong with me...?_

 _"Now she'll argue; say she can't. She's modest like that. But you make her."_

 ** _You make her._**

Glados felt white hot flashes of pain spike in her head, and her vision blurred, her ears ringing. She cried out in fear when she felt hands grip her shoulders, shaking her slightly.

She heard one last thing from Mr. Johnson before she blacked out. _"Heck, put her in my computer. I don't care..."_

* * *

 _Having a rough day already, so I was feeling sorry for myself and started writing this morning. Enjoy. :)_


	18. Chapter 18

Chell was deeply alarmed when Glados started to convulse, her eyes rolling up into her head. She lifted the girl quickly from the chair and laid her onto the ground on her side, desperately trying to figure out what to do.

Was she dying on her...? Chell had no idea what the implant was supposed to do.

A couple minutes later Glados stopped shaking as hard, the seizure letting up. Chell gently turned the girl onto her back, checking her pulse gingerly. Glados' eyes flickered open slightly, a whimper of pain breaking through her usual tough exterior.

Chell brushed Glados' bangs back softly, her hand cool against Glados' sweaty forehead. She communicated softly so as to not hurt Glados any further, _'Hey... hey, are you okay? Can you hear me...?'_

 _Are you okay...?_

Glados mind was trying to catch up, still firing off neurons and an amalgam of various memories resurfaced, most undecipherable.

 _She saw Henry Cadwin leaning over her after installing the piece of machinery into her head. She was in a lot of pain, the implant making connections in her brain... she shivered with fear, hugging herself._

 _Cadwin smiled warmly and stroked her head soothingly, "Hey, you're going to be okay now. I know it hurts, but this is going to save your life. I saved your life." A smile._

 _And then he was angry, his face red and furious and he was yelling at her-_

Glados jerked away from Chell's touch, hot tears running down her face uncontrollably.

She wiped them away in horror, shuddering and trying to ignore the terrified feeling that was overwhelming her...

Chell reached out comfortingly, aware of the other's sudden spike of fear, _'Glados... I'm trying to help you. I promise I'm not going to hurt you... relax.'_

Glados tensed, cursing the tears that fell unbidden from her eyes... she wasn't crying was she? She didn't _cry_. She _never_ cried.

 _ **"Don't you dare cry..."**_

"I'm not... I'm not..." she whispered.

She was in immense pain, wishing upon wishes that Cadwin was here to fix the problem and make it all disappear again...

Except she had hated him.

But he had saved her life.

And she had killed him...

Her eyes opened, staring into Chell's worried features, and she felt her lips quiver...

 _Pleaseleavemealoneplease-_

"I'm _sorry_..." her voice was small... pathetic and weak. She was disgusted.

 _ **"I told you never to cry. You're better than that! I made you better than that!"**_

She wasn't sorry. What was she saying?

But she was...

She really was _sorry_.

She wiped her face desperately, trying to stop the tears dripping from her eyes and failing. Her hands shook too much...

Chell grabbed them and pushed her arms down gently. She lifted Glados' trembling form into her lap, cradling her while tears ran down her own face. Glados only shook silently, refusing to let herself cry aloud...

Chell swallowed, surprised by the turn of events.

 _'I'm... sorry too.'_

* * *

Wheatley sat cross-legged in Glados' chair, sporting a new Aperture scientist lab coat and watched as his new creations attempted to perform a simple beginner's test.

And they were failing. Miserably.

His eye twitched, a side effect of using his electrical deviation too much.

The first thing he had done after taking over Aperture's systems was try out an idea he had thought up of as a an intern. If test subjects had to use storage cubes to place on large buttons, why not have the cubes walk to the buttons themselves?

He had been fairly pleased with his brilliant idea, and it had only earned him a smack upside the head from his Aunt Julia.

 _"Boy, if you don't keep your mouth shut they're going to throw you out of here faster than you can say Machiavelli! Try to at least act like you possess some brainpower..."_ she had scoffed, annoyed with him. She hadn't wanted him there either, but she had owed his mother and got him a job at Aperture. Even if it was only an internship...

 _"If you keep quiet and do your simple job, you might get lucky and get hired as someone's lab assistant or something. Don't expect any more favors from me,"_ she had said.

Ugh, she had been wretched.

Wheatley had grown up in the UK, only to have his parents die on him while still a minor. His grandmother hadn't wanted to take care of him and had him shipped to his mother's sister, Aunt Julia, in the United States.

Or what used to be the United States. All he knew was they were in an area that used to be called Upper Michigan.

Aunt Julia had been a scientist in Aperture Laboratories and got him the internship when he was 26, after he had been unable to hold a job for more than a month. She had been quite frankly sick and tired of taking care of him, but she had loved her sister and owed her this little favor of taking care of her son.

Wheatley had always been fascinated with science, despite never being quite good at it. So the chance to work at a scienctific laboratory had been an exciting endeavor.

But he had had to be careful, considering he possessed a powerful deviation that needed to be hidden, or they would brand him a test subject and toss him into the incinerator at the end. His abilities were easily given away if he used them, or got too worked up. His aunt taught him how to keep his eyes from glowing and erased his record clean of any Deviant DNA. The UK hadn't been as dangerous as America had become, so it was a new skill for him to learn.

And now he was free to do anything he wanted.

By himself.

He felt a pang in his chest, residual guilt over losing...

 _Chell._

He hadn't meant to snap at her or drop her into the abyss, truly. He had just been so _angry_... angry with Glados and angry with everyone. People had always treated him so poorly, calling him an idiot his entire life.

And he was done with it.

If he was being completely honest, the neurotoxin incident had been the best thing to ever have happened to him. He had survived, his Aunt dead, and when the computer had broken down he had run, fully intending to go to the surface to take everything in Aunt Julia's name. Life would be good.

Although Glados hadn't entirely lied; Wheatley had sacrificed someone to save himself, and that weighed on him more heavily than he would've thought.

He had felt incredibly guilty about the test subject he had doomed. While running for his life during Glados' takeover, he had run straight to the one of the stasis chamber rooms, looking for an empty pod. Fortunately, his job had been to wake the test subjects and prep them for portal testing, so he was familiar with the room and the pods.

He had run straight there without telling anyone else of his plan, desperate to save his own life.

 _A coward._

He shook his head; he _wasn't_ a coward.

Panic took over when all the pods were full, so he had opened a random pod and pulled an unconscious young-looking woman out, taking her place. The next thing he knew he was waking up four years later to a system-wide crash, activating his pod.

He had run straight to the central chamber after noting the exits were still locked up and was going to take the escape lift out.

But then he had seen her.

Chell had been lying on the floor, dying of neurotoxin poisoning, and Glados was lying feet away, looking very dead. He hadn't been overly shocked at finding out Glados had been the one behind the neurotoxin incident. She had always been an intimidating loner and he had never directly spoken with her, keeping his distance.

Wheatley had debated with himself for a full minute before deciding to rescue the dying test subject. He had been responsible for one person's death, and he wouldn't be responsible for another.

He had hoisted Chell into his arms and had taken her straight to the infirmary...

And then they were going to escape together. He would take his Aunt's possessions and everything would finally be alright.

Taking over the computer mainframe hadn't been in the plan, but it had felt so good... his powers had latched onto the invisible streams of data, controlling them like some god-like puppet master. He had never felt anything like it, and had decided he needed it.

He had lashed out against Glados and had caused Chell to succumb to the same fate.

It was such a pity, really. He had liked her.

He groaned and rubbed his temples... the mainframe still a new element to his adapting brain. That was probably the problem. It had nothing to do with Chell.

He casually flicked through Glados' files, annoyed that the majority were encrypted and beyond his reach. Then an open file popped up, simply entitled 'Humor'. He wasn't sure he wanted to know what Glados' version of 'humor' was...

He opened it with growing curiosity and watched as two robots battled their way through a testing chamber, wrought with flamethrowers he had never encountered before.

A robot, a tall white one with an orange optic, ran through the fire streams, waving it's portal gun back and forth frantically, and ended up on the other side of the room with it's head melting alarmingly fast.

Wait, where did these robots come from? His eye twitched again and he ignored it.

He rapidly clicked through files, trying to locate the portal testing bots. Those would be a lot of fun to play with if he could only find them. Glados certainly hadn't made anything simple...

 _Aha._

The two bots' information was being stored in a reassembly machine, similar to the one he had used to design his own creations...

He glanced up at the viewing screen again, annoyed that his own pathetic robot still hadn't managed to find its way to the button.

"Oh, bloody... it's right there! You are _boxes_ with _legs_! It is literally your only purpose: Walking onto buttons! How can you not do the one thing you were designed for?" he lost his patience, berating the stupid robots through the speaker system.

The robots ignored him, vainly inching their way forward in no purposeful direction. He had placed turrets in the reassembly machine and had fused them with storage cubes. It was brilliant, but they seemed to be as dense as a bucket of bolts. They made their way across the room in every conceivable direction but towards the large button in the center.

He sighed, "Warmer... warmer... boiling hot. HOT! You're almost there! Ah, cold. Arctic cold. Very very- LOOK, JUST GET ON THE BUTTON!" he yelled, startling his franken-turrets.

One of them fell onto it's side, it's legs twitching in the air as it couldn't reassert it's center of gravity. The other one made a strange garbled noise at it in response.

"Oh, you think that's funny, do you? We've been at this for twelve hours and you haven't solved it either, so I don't know why you're laughing," he growled. He turned his attention back to the two testing bots, and mentally gave the computer the command to reassemble them.

Time for some real science, like the real scientist that he was.

Minutes later, the reassembled Atlas and P-Body found themselves in a new testing area, and Wheatley watched them with growing enthusiasm.

"Oh, you are beautiful, splendid little things, aren't you? I guess you don't have any deviations to test, but that's fine. I want to see what you're capable of..."

The two robots tittered at each other, communicating in their own robotic language nervously. He frowned at them, watching as they did nothing to start the test.

"Okay, go! One... two... three... begin the test!"

The robots stared at him through the security camera, not making any moves.

"Look, just, solve the test already. That's what she made you for, right?" he was irritated again.

They jumped up, getting worked up by the mention of their creator, and he understood.

"Oh, she's not coming back by the way. I own you now, and I'm telling you to do what you were programmed for. Forget about Glados," he said darkly.

The two robots pulled their portal guns closer to them, exchanging a look almost like they were mourning...

He sighed and leaned forward in his chair, linking his hands together, "So... you're gonna test. I'm gonna watch. And everything is going to be just... _fine_."

* * *

 _Wheatley's such a little punk, haha._

 _Shout-out to all of you reading my story! I always appreciate any and all feedback and/or support. :) You're all awesome. I'm getting ready for vacation, so I don't know if there will be any more updates for a couple weeks. We'll see if I can squeeze another chapter in before we leave. Have a great rest of your weekend! :D_

 _-Moe_


	19. Chapter 19

_Caroline sat and tinkered with the yellow device, tweaking an end prong carefully and bending it into the shape she wanted. Her hair fell into her eyes and blocked her view, so she quickly threw it into a messy bun and went back to work on her machine._

 _"There, that should do it," she whispered to herself, clicking the prong into it's designated spot._

 _Satisfied that the adjustment, she picked up the device she had been working on for six hours straight and aimed it at the large painted white circle on her wall._

 _She shot at the center of the circle, and a blue-tinged hole popped into existence. No spluttering or feedback this time. That was a good sign. She shot another one on the other side of the room, an orange hole opening up and finishing the loop._

 _She sighed in contentment and shot again at the two openings, closing them off. She'd have to make some notes..._

 _"Oh, wow, that was magnificent!"_

 _Caroline spun around, surprised by the intrusion and the unfamiliar voice. She was somewhat used to Cave barging in unannounced, after all, he did own the place._

 _She dropped the portal device onto the lab station and pushed it behind her, eyeing the newcomer warily. "Who are you? How did you get in here?"_

 _He raised his arms disarmingly, his eyes smiling, "I apologize, I didn't mean to startle you. I was told no one would be in here. I'm just the maintenance guy here to fix the heating output issue."_

 _Oh. She relaxed a little, recalling that Cave had told her something about an engineer stopping by. She had lost track of the time._

 _"Well, I... I was just checking up on this lab, making sure... that it was, um... clean," she said lamely, at loss for words._

 _He raised an eyebrow at her, "Ma'am, if you wanna mess around with scientific equipment and whatnot, who am I to judge? You don't need to lie for the sake of my superior masculine ego," he grinned, making his way over to a panel on the opposite wall._

 _Surprised, she snickered lightly and observed him as he searched for the right spot on the wall, checking with his instructions. He was fairly tall and skinny, although it was difficult to tell under his long coat. It was brown with a golden collar and cuffs. He wore a brownish jumpsuit underneath with a flower pattern lining the top. It was quite outlandish... an artist, maybe?_

 _He was well-tanned and had styled dark hair, friendly dark eyes, with a small goatee under his mouth. He looked to be in his mid-twenties. She frowned at herself; she was probably twice his age..._

 _She turned away in embarrassment, realizing she had been watching him, but stopped as soon as she saw him reach his hand **through** the wall._

 _She stifled a gasp, "You... you're a Deviant."_

 _He turned, still smiling, "Sure am. It comes in... handy, when you need to get into hard-to-reach places." She cringed inwardly at the pun, still absorbing the new information._

 _"It's not as if you haven't seen one before, seeing as you're one too, if I'm not mistaken," he noted, turning away to work on whatever it was he was fixing. He pulled at the panel from the inside and yanked it off the wall in one swift motion._

 _Caroline stared at him dumbly. How had he...?_

 _Oh, her eyes! She scanned her lab desk and saw her contact case sitting where she had left it earlier, tired of wearing the things. They hid her Deviant DNA-laced irises from the outside world. She couldn't be caught without them, but here a complete stranger had seen her!_

 _Noticing her stressed reaction, he responded, "Relax, I'm not going to rat you out or anything. I told you, what you wanna do and what you can do is none of my business. I gotta say though, I love what your facility here does with Deviants. Helping them control their abilities and learn more about them... it's admirable. Many people are starting to become afraid of us..."_

 _Caroline felt a guilty pang in her chest and crossed her arms, listening silently to him speak. He had an exotic accent... Scandinavian...? Norwegian?_

 _"That's why I use my ability so openly. Show people that there's nothing to be afraid of," he finished, concentrating on his work._

 _Yes, Aperture had been built on the foundation of studying deviations, but it had grown since then... since she had become the CEO's top assistant. New technology was allowing them to replicate DNA in order to induce temporary powers in other human beings, and Mr. Johnson had jumped right on it._

 _As more unfortunate incidents were beginning to rise from this new deviation-era, Caroline had become more and more concerned by the morality of it all. She tried to overlook the Deviant side of Aperture and buried herself in her work instead._

 _Since Cave had given her her own lab five years previously, she had worked more and more vigorously on her own personal projects. A couple small things she had invented had been mixed into Aperture's projects, unbeknownst to the male scientists on the other side of the facility._

 _They would have a hissy fit if they knew a woman was working with scientific research past their own understanding in the same facility as them. It was a man's world, after all._

 _"If you don't mind me asking, what was that device you were using when I first came in? It was unlike anything I've ever seen. I mean, I know this is a laboratory and all, but wow," he replaced the wall panel, satisfied with his finished work._

 _She flushed, clutching the device behind her back protectively, "I don't think you're privy to that information, sir. In fact, you haven't exactly shown me any credentials..." she realized. What if he was a Black Mesa spy?_

 _The maintenance man laughed, "I'm sorry, I'm Lee Virgil, but everyone just calls me Virgil. I just got hired a couple days ago by Mr. Johnson himself. He was looking for people with deviations such as mine and ended up hiring me as a maintenance engineer. I have my stuff in here somewhere..." he dug around in his various coat pockets, searching._

 _She groaned, "No, it's alright, Mister... Virgil." She would ask Cave about it later, as he never hired anyone anymore. That was ususally her job._

 _"I am Caroline Short, Mr. Johnson's assistant. You are an engineer then? Could you tell me how this device works?" she tested him, handing him the yellow device._

 _He turned it over and examined it from all angles, "Maybe if I pulled it apart, which I'm not going to do... but I may be able to help fix your little kickback problem. I noticed it when I saw you fire the portals."_

 _She frowned, "No, I can- um, the scientists working on this technology should be able to fix it themselves. Also, I believe they are calling it 'Gateway' technology."_

 _Virgil wrinkled his nose in distaste, "'Gateway' technology? That sounds ludicrous. They're portals, plain and simple. You should relay that to the genius inventing this thing..." he handed it back to her knowingly, a sparkle in his eye._

 _She took it back thoughtfully and he thrust out his hand toward her, "Anyway, it was nice meeting you, Ms. Short. I'll be sticking around the facility, so I'm sure we will see each other again."_

 _"Right, have a lovely day, Mister Virgil."_

 _He performed a two-fingered salute playfully as he exited the lab, "Yeah, but it's just Virgil. Oh, and..." he mimed zipping his mouth shut and pointed to the device in her hands, "Won't tell a soul. And remember, it's portal technology." Then he was gone._

 _She turned the device over in her hands and grimaced when a prong broke loose, clattering to the ground._

 _Portals, eh?_

* * *

 _No, wait, please..._

 _I don't- I don'twant-_

 _ **I DON'T WANT THIS!**_

* * *

Glados startled awake, her eyes snapping open to old degrading ceiling tiles. She unclenched her fists and turned her head slightly, hissing at the jab of pain in her temple. That's right. Her implant had stopped working.

She shifted her head slightly and she was staring up at Chell, who was lying against a waiting chair, dead asleep.

Glados' memories before she had fallen asleep slammed back into her, and she nearly choked when she realized what she had done.

What she had said.

She noticed her head was lying in Chell's lap, the awful hobo coat draped over her. She peeled it off herself gingerly, and slowly got up on her hands, scootching over to the other chair away from Chell.

She had to think.

Glados felt slightly better after her nap and she decided to wait for Chell to wake on her own. When was the last time either of them had gotten any real sleep?

Cave Johnson's portrait still leered down at her, but this time she didn't feel anything looking at it. The feeling of terror that had overwhelmed her before was gone.

She was only annoyed.

She was annoyed that this woman was looking down on her, annoyed that Cave Johnson never stopped talking, annoyed that she was down here, annoyed that her head hurt, and...

She grimaced, rubbing her temples softly. Being angry at everything wasn't going to help her out of this situation. She just wished that Chell would get up and they could both escape from this decrepit hole in the earth.

At the same time, she hoped Chell would never get up, because Glados certainly didn't want to look her in the eyes again.

What was wrong with her? Just because her implant was causing her nervous system to fritz out, it didn't mean that she had to have an _emotional_ breakdown as well. She had always been proud of her emotional detachment to everything, logic and reasoning dictating all that she did.

That was why she had always been _better_ than everyone else. Why she had preferred to be alone.

Why she had done what she had done.

And now Chell had made her feel regret over all of that. Everything about the situation was wrong.

Glados shivered inwardly; she didn't know how to feel, and that bothered her immensely.

She heard a small cough, and her gaze shifted to Chell who was staring at her, wide awake. _Speak of the devil..._

* * *

Chell awoke from her nap, noting the weight of Glados' head was missing and had been replaced with the oversized coat.

She glanced to the side, taking in Glados' hunched form against the chair beside her. She was frowning at the portrait, her face a mask of concentration. Chell exhaled with small relief; at least Glados appeared lucid again. Although, she wasn't quite sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

She coughed, getting the other girl's attention. Glados' eyes snapped to her, a look of shame flashing through them, then hardening again.

Glados crossed her arms, putting up her defensive barrier. "Thanks for the coat. Now we will _both_ die of septic poisoning," she remarked, her ever-so-lovely personality back in full action.

Chell sighed imperceptibly, _'Always with the dramatic...'_

"I heard that."

 _'I know.'_

Glados glanced away, suddenly looking uncomfortable. She rubbed at her bandaged foot absent-mindedly.

 _'So... are we going to talk about it?'_

Glados growled, "Talk about what?"

 _'What happened earlier...?'_

"There's nothing to talk about!" she snapped back, running her hands through her hair agitatedly.

Chell said nothing, waiting.

"Look, this _thing_ ," Glados pointed to her implant, "It's defunct. Broken. Useless. It's... messing with my head. Causing hallucinations. Whatever I said before, it meant... it meant nothing." She didn't sound very convincing.

It sounded to Chell like Glados was only trying to convince herself. She decided to drop the subject, not wanting to agitate Glados any further.

 _'Alright, fine. Are you ready to head out again?'_ she asked, standing up and stretching. She tied her coat around her waist and yanked one of the water bottles out, chugging it and offering the rest to Glados.

Glados pulled a face, "Um, that's okay. I'll take my chances with less disease-ridden-"

Chell practically smacked the water bottle into Glados' face, Glados shrieking as water spilled down the front of her face and onto her shirt.

Glados wiped her face, a snort of broken laughter breaking through. "I suppose I deserved that..."

Chell lifted a sleeve of the coat from her waist, waving it towards Glados' face, _'Here, let me help...'_ she smirked mischievously.

Glados smacked the sleeve away, a hint of a smile on her face. "Nope. I draw the line there. You may carry me all you like, but I am _not_ touching that hobo coat again," she waved Chell back.

Chell shrugged and tossed the empty bottle away. A minute later she had Glados seated comfortably (well, as comfortably as one could get) on her back again and the two set off.

 _'Upwards and onwards.'_

"Be quiet, will you?"

* * *

To both women's relief, Cave Johnson's messages had completely stopped broadcasting. Chell continued up through a maze of catwalks, the tests long run out. Unfortunately, Glados was of no help whatsoever.

 _'Don't you have any, I don't know, maps of old Aperture? You practically have a computer in your brain,'_ Chell stomped down the wrong catwalk for the fifth time.

Glados scoffed softly, "Oh please, this place was closed off long ago. Believe it or not, I didn't have access to any of Aperture's old records. I never really cared to look..." Glados drifted off, her body sagging slightly against Chell.

Chell readjusted her grip, _'You still with me?'_ she attempted to keep the worry out of her thoughts.

Glados' head sank against her neck and shoulder tiredly, "' _With you...?_ ' Like you could keep up with my intelligence..." she mumbled.

Chell rolled her eyes, continuing their trek in silence.

* * *

 _Alrighty, we are leaving for vacation tomorrow, but I managed to get this done ahead of time and here we are! Also, I'm excited I got to finally write a new character (although there will be a lot more soon). ;) In addition, I got a very nice review on my last chapter and whoever you are, thank you very much! It seriously made my day. I hope the story doesn't disappoint... :) Enjoy the new chapter and have a fantastic day! I'll be back to update in another week or so._


	20. Chapter 20

Chuck Statton trimmed his decently-large poofy mustache in the ancient cracked bathroom mirror, wishing for the thousandth time that morning that his hair would migrate upwards onto his receding hairline. Well, at least his white hairs weren't so obvious yet. It was still black and young-looking... if you only looked at his mustache that was.

He frowned at his thick neck and protruding belly with mild and familiar irritation. This was his morning ritual, after all. Start off the day with a clean shave and a nice healthy dose of self-loathing. Then breakfast. Always breakfast.

 _Four years down in this crap-hole and I can't even lose a little weight?_ He was certain he'd lost at least a couple pounds, but the boys didn't think so. His belt didn't think so either.

Four years... had it really been that long?

Chuck had served as a security officer in Aperture Science labs for a little over a decade. He himself, having no deviation of any kind, had nothing to fear from the place. It was just a job, like any other.

However, after about five years on the job he had become disturbed over the things he had seen in the place. Watching nobodies get tested was one thing, but seeing what happened to them afterward, well...

That was another.

His sense of justice had been reignited, and he had deemed himself somewhat a hero, taking it upon himself to do something about the evils taking place in Aperture. All this was done covertly, of course. Chuck had suddenly turned himself into a secret agent.

His wife knew, as he always told her everything. Joy just told him he had reached a mid-life crisis. He had to be careful or he'd lose his job.

Chuck's first victory had come when he had rescued Richard seven years ago. Richard had only been 27 at the time and had gone through his Aperture testing. The boy had been hot-headed and had varying degrees of control over his abilities. Richard destroyed the fourth test chamber in it's entirety, ripping apart the walls and threatening the personnel.

Chuck had intervened and neutralized the boy with his specialized Deviant-Negating device, and in a desperate bid to act, had taken a shortcut as soon as they made their way to the incinerator room. The two found a loosened hatch right in the entrance, opening into the wide unknown of the void below Aperture.

With a courageous spirit Richard had jumped below onto a tube leading into the underground, broken a hole in the top, and jumped down into it out of sight. Frightened out of his wits, but certain going back would lead to his ultimate demise, Chuck had followed.

The tube had ended up twisting for miles downward, finally spitting the two out into a vat of thick white liquid. If it hadn't been for Richard, Chuck would have most certainly drowned.

The two runaways had quickly discerned that they were in the upper levels of the old sealed off Aperture Laboratories, and Chuck had left the boy there. They came up with an adequate alibi for Chuck, and he returned to his post. Aperture thought Richard had been incinerated as planned, and they were none the wiser.

So Chuck had grown confident. He watched for years, always looking for opportunities to rescue a poor Deviant soul. He couldn't save them all, as he had to always be cautious. Glados' surveillance had proven to be a difficult enemy, but Chuck was one heck of a secret agent.

He had managed to rescue five test subjects in the past seven years. He reckoned it would have been more if he hadn't been forced to flee to Old Aperture during the neurotoxin incident four years previously.

It's where they had been ever since.

He smoothed down his uniform, wondering if his wife ever thought of him anymore.

His stomach grumbled, interrupting his brooding. His mood brightened when he realized it was time for his favorite meal of the day. He opened the bathroom door to an impatient Craig.

" _Fact_ : You take much too long during your morning bathroom rituals," Craig leaned forward, his arms crossed.

Chuck grinned; What other fifty-year old man could say they had a more exciting life than his?

* * *

Craig stalked into the bathroom, clutching his clothing of choice for the day in his arms. He refused to get dressed in front of the others and Rick always poked fun at him... _we're all men here_. Craig sniffed.

 _Men who could stand to use a shower every once in awhile._

Of course, none of them ever thought that they would leave Old Aperture. Their way out of the facility was guarded by an insane monstress above. Chuck had told them many a story about Glados and her horrific takeover. Craig himself had only heard her voice years back when he was still a test subject. He had never actually glimpsed the monstress herself.

What would they do if they escaped anyway? Avoid capture again for the rest of their lives? Craig was quite content to remain where he was.

He slipped his hand through the air, opening up a small pocket dimension in space where he stored his bathroom supplies. Luckily, he had stored his stuff years ago as a young teenager. _Always be prepared for the inevitable._

His deviation allowed it so that he could open pockets of space out of thin air, giving him unlimited storage capacity. He revelled in the fact that he still had access to various candies and junk food from the outside world. Since the pockets were complete vacuums, food never went bad in them. Although, that also made Craig their living food storage unit. But it always gave him an edge over the others, so they never bothered him too much.

Craig reached in and pulled out his mangled toothbrush, berating his twelve-year old self for not thinking ahead to packing more than one. To be fair, though, he had never thought that he'd be trapped underground for the rest of his life.

The boys had created quite the system down below Aperture Science. They worked together and used their deviations to construct living quarters out of the old buildings, complete with a shower system and laundry unit. Thankfully a hundred years ago people had deemed it necessary to utilize such facilities in the large underground maze. Aperture still had running electricity and the boys had figured out a way to filter the reservoir of water. A hydroponics lab was even constructed. They could live semi-comfortably down there for years.

They had their resident engineer/handy-man, a somewhat trained security officer that they all owed their lives to, and an amalgam of other useful deviations to tap into when necessary. Craig thought that his was probably the most useful, not to be biased or anything. In addition, he was their resident genius, even if the others didn't agree. That was simply a fact.

Hugo thought that he was the genius of the group, being the son of a top scientist and all, but Craig knew better.

Hugo was an idiot.

Craig cleaned his glasses thoroughly in the sink, then brushed his thick black hair back and styled it neatly like his mother had always taught him to do. His parents had been very traditional Chinese and had schooled him to represent them well when they had sent him off to North America. They thought it would be safer for him there with his deviation rather than stay in China. Obviously, they had been wrong.

His violet eyes had given him away almost immediately as being Deviant. He had attempted to mask them, but someone had betrayed him soon after.

Craig stalked out of the bathroom after his self-imposed six minutes, almost tripping over Hugo and Big Dipper as they fought over who got to use the facilities next.

"Look, I've told you a million times, _Charlie_ , that bathroom privileges come with age and experience. Of which you have neither!" Hugo was irate, yanking on Big Dipper's prized NASA shirt to keep him from claiming the restroom for himself.

"Lemme go, Helios! I gotta goo!" Big Dipper was straining against Hugo's grip, "And my NAME is _BIG DIPPER_!" The twelve-year old was small for his age and lacked maturity. Craig wasn't sure if the boy would ever develop any considering who he kept company with.

"Knock it off, _Helios_ ," Craig called Hugo by his hated nickname just to irritate him, "Let him use it and be a man." Gosh, Craig hated that guy.

Hugo loosened his grip and Big Dipper ran from him and slammed the bathroom door. Hugo crossed his arms, "There's a chart for a reason, Craig. _A chart!_ "

Craig snorted, "A chart of your own making, you mean? I'm fairly sure that Rick already burned it."

Hugo's face flushed red and he spluttered, "Why- you- you- You know who I _am_ , right? I deserve bathroom privileges! In fact, I deserve my own bathroom away from you _heathens_ ," he practically spat the word.

Craig was already walking away, used to Hugo's stupid egotistical rants. The man's mother had been one of the head scientists before Aperture had been taken over years back. Hugo had started working under her when Glados filled the facility with neurotoxin. Craig still wished that Chuck had picked someone else's rear end to rescue.

Hugo was all ego and no brains. He didn't even possess a deviation or a single useful skill. He was nothing more than a twenty-five year old spoiled brat, and the guy always wore his lab coat and his mother's PhD badge to make himself look smarter.

Big Dipper bolted from the bathroom and Craig prayed that the boy had washed his hands first. "There you go, Helios. Now you can put on your make-up and wash your hair in the sink," Big Dipper gibed at him with a laugh.

Craig wanted to turn around just to see Hugo's face, but decided against it. Hugo had been born with Hypotrichosis, meaning he had been born with no hair on his body, never able to grow any. He was as bald as a baby's behind and Big Dipper thought it was hilarious.

It's also where his nickname Helios had come from. Big Dipper had granted everyone a space-related nickname since the boy was absolutely and entirely obsessed with astrophysics. Hugo was dubbed Helios simply because the sun reflected off his bald head.

It was incredibly amusing, and Hugo hated it.

Big Dipper looked up at Craig with sudden seriousness, "Watch out, Hubble... I think Rick was gonna try making pancakes again."

Craig's footsteps faltered. Maybe he'd skip out on breakfast that morning.

* * *

 _I'm back! I mean, I know it hasn't been that long... but, whatever._

 _So, new characters! I found writing more characters goes much more smoothly than say, two or one at a time. I already have the next chapter written out as well, but I wanna double (triple, quadruple) check it first. I always do. I hope the characters turn out okay. I designed and drew them out months ago before I started writing this fic, so I'm hoping to do them justice and make their human...ness interesting, haha. I have illustrations of what each character looks like, so once I post the next chapter I'll upload them to my deviantART account so you can see them if you want (I love illustrations... who doesn't?) :) But if you want a sneak peek, I drew this monopoly meme of official Portal characters using my designs for this fic on deviantART (look up LOSHComixfan and check my Portal folder). Can't post links on here. ;)  
_

 _Let's see, we've got Chuck (Harry Callaghan's character), Charlie/Big Dipper (Space Core), Craig (Fact Core), and Hugo (Ego core; also Harry's character)._

 _I tried not to be too stereotypical, but it happened anyway. Chuck is definitely your stereotypical mall cop guy. Also, he loves donuts. (Psht, who doesn't though?)_

 _Craig is Chinese, but to be fair I wanted a little variety with the characters and it fit what I wanted his character to be like. I've been learning Chinese for three years and want to move to Taiwan, so I do know a lot about Chinese culture and wanted to have a Chinese character. Although it probably won't come up again, ah well._

 _Space Core is a kid... thought it would make it more interesting to have some age differences in the group. It also seemed to fit his character. :) He's adorable._

 _Then I had to make Ego Core shiny and bald. I had to. I also knew somebody with that same condition growing up, but I haven't come across it since._

 _I think that covers all my random author's notes. I hope you enjoy the chapter, short as it may be. Good night all!_

 _-Moe_


	21. Chapter 21

_Aperture Science Laboratories_  
 _October 7th, 1972-_

Virgil sat on the floor of the stasis pod room, working fervently on a glitchy pod he'd been asked to repair. It was a simple enough job and he'd had his fair share of work over the past five years of working for Aperture.

Still, something about sitting alone in a cold room full of frozen humans chilled him a little. Literally and figuratively.

Apparently these humans had decided to put themselves in cold storage until Aperture could figure out how to cure them of whatever ailed them, be it a degenerative disease or problems with their deviations. The idea of being deep-frozen for who-knows-how-long personally freaked him out, but good on them.

He stood to stretch from his position sitting on the floor. _Almost done._

He accidentally bumped into the stasis pod behind him, activating the display on the screen. "Oh, whoops, sorry there Miss," he patted the pod and tipped an imaginary hat to the woman inside. "Miss..." he narrowed his eyes to read the display screen on her pod, "...Mel?"

He poked the screen, his inherent curiosity piqued, "Mel? That's it? Just Mel?" He continued scanning the screen for more information.

 _Test Subject #3902303_  
 _Tier 2 AGD Enhancement_  
 _07-20-1972 00:34_

And that was all it said.

Virgil felt a chill go down his spine. _Tier 2 AGD Enhancement._ That was a term used for the DNA enhancers that had shown up in the black markets the past few years. It certainly wasn't what he had expected to find.

Virgil glanced around the room and decided on a whim that he would find out exactly why this woman was in stasis. He knew he shouldn't, but he couldn't bite back his curiosity. Maybe this was all a misunderstanding, right? Cave wouldn't condone something like this.

Not Cave Johnson. Not Aperture.

After a five minute reactivation sequence, the pod door lifted and he got a clear picture of the woman inside.

She was a well-built, surprisingly muscular red-head with a long curly mane of hair that framed her face. She was pale and freckled and was still wearing remnants of red lipstick. How odd.

Virgil looked to the doorway, half expecting someone to walk in and find him out. He knew it was a chance he had to take, because he just had to know.

He said a silent apology to the woman in the pod and leaned over to shake her awake.

He probably would have thought twice about that if he had known she was already awake, as the next thing he knew he was getting a solid blow to the face and found himself lying on his backside.

A groan escaped his lips as she leapt from the pod, shockingly alert, and roughly yanked him into sitting position, her face inches from his.

"Who are you and what were you doing to me?" she hissed angrily, "Talk, mister!" She pulled his collar tighter, which he thought to himself was not a very good way of getting someone to talk, but he thought it best to let it slide.

He phased out of her grip and jumped to his feet, putting his arms out in self-defense. Her eyes widened in mild surprise, but she remained silent, waiting for him to speak.

"Alright, alright. Just remain calm... I promise I had nothing to do with..." he gestured around the room, "Any of this. I just... are you Mel?" He cursed himself as his voice ended in a squeak.

She frowned and whipped out a hair tie from who knows where and pulled her hair back into a messy bun in three seconds flat. "You work here, don't you? You should already know who I am."

He sighed and rubbed his aching cheek from where she had decked him, "Sort of. I'm just the maintenance guy and I got a little, well, _suspicious_ when I read your pod's display. I'm really sorry..."

Mel didn't seem to believe him, "Well, Mister, you do realize you work for a bunch of lying, filthy kidnappers, don't you?" her voice dripped with venom.

He shrank back under her intense gaze, and he was surprised at himself for being cowed by this woman. "Look, let me try and make it up to you. The display said you've been here for a couple months. It hasn't been that long yet, so-"

"'A couple months'"? she blanched, her voice rising in pitch.

"Shhh, someone's going to hear us!" he whispered furtively, looking back to the doorway. He looked back to her, "Let me help you."

Her green eyes scanned his Aperture coat in disdain and she took a step backward. "No thanks, I can help myself."

He watched as her eyes shifted to an electric blue and there was a blinding flash of sapphire light.

Then she was gone.

Virgil stepped backward in shock, rubbing the white spots from his eyes. She had teleported!

"Oh man, that's a radical deviation," he murmured to himself. Mel had seemed pretty tough, but she had been caught once before. He set himself on the fact that he was going to have to help her. He wouldn't live with himself if she was caught again.

Virgil ran through the walls, wasting no time and desperate to find where she had teleported to. Her range couldn't be far...

There. He found her standing three hallways away, and thankfully no one was in sight.

"Stop, wait for me," he said to her. She scowled irritably at his persistence and was gone in another flash of light.

He calculated the distance she had jumped the first time and ran the same distance away, going with his gut instinct. Again, he found her, and again, she teleported.

A couple more rounds of this and he found himself growing tired, panting with the effort of continually using his deviation. But if he was getting tired, it meant she had to be as well. Although, she did seem to be more physically fit than he, so he wasn't about to underestimate her quite yet.

This time Virgil calculated where she would have gone and slipped through the ceiling above, using a filing cabinet as his step-stool, and almost crashed into a young scientist hurrying down the hall.

The man huffed at him and readjusted his coke bottle glasses, "Watch where you're going you- oh. It's you," he narrowed his eyes at Virgil.

Virgil didn't recall the younger man's name, so he smiled at him, trying to appear nonchalant. "Oh, yes, hello there... _friend_. Um, Mr. Johnson and I were just running an experiment. My apologies for almost knocking you over."

The man looked Virgil up and down, not seeming too interested, " _Right_. Watch it next time, janitor. There's actual important work that needs to be accomplished here." Then he was gone down the corridor.

Virgil's eye twitched; _janitor?_

Brother, the ego on some of these scientists.

He shook his head and ran down the hallway to the spot he had been aiming for. If he was correct, she would be somewhere directly below him. He hoped.

He slipped through the floor and landed directly on top of her, landing both of them in a heap of tangled limbs and curses. They were in an old auxiliary conference room and it was almost completely dark. He hoped it was her he had landed on...

"Oops, sorry! I hope I didn't hurt-"

She elbowed him directly in the face where she had punched him earlier. Yep, that was her. He maintained his grip on her determinedly, "Listen! I'm. Trying. To. Help. You," he emphasized and covered her mouth with one of his hands, praying she didn't bite him.

"Calm down for just one second and listen to me. You've gotten extremely lucky so far by not running into anybody here. Do you know what would happen if they found you? They would hunt you down again and stick you right back into that stasis pod. You don't want that. I don't want that. I would have never woken you in the first place if that was my evil plan," he whispered sharply.

She stopped struggling, finally seeming to listen to him. "You... you promise?" she looked up at him, her big eyes glowing blue in the darkness of the room.

He breathed a sigh of relief and let go of her, rubbing his face gingerly, "Yeah, I promise. Just _please_ stop hitting me," he groaned.

"Deal. I'm Mel," she stuck her hand out to him and he reached out to the vague outline of it, shaking her hand firmly.

"I already know that."

"Dummy, what's _your_ name? If I'm going to trust you, I need to know your name," she rolled her eyes.

"Oh, I'm Virgil," he grunted as she helped him to his feet.

"Alright, Mister Virgil. Let's escape then," there was a mischievous twinkle in her eye and she tightened her grip on his hand.

Then Virgil was swooped up into another, brighter flash of light.

Utilizing both of their deviations, the two made their way out of the underground labyrinth and found themselves on the surface just as the sun was rising for the day.

"You've been gone for hours... do you think someone's noticed?" Mel asked quietly.

Virgil shrugged tiredly, "I really don't know... someone's going to notice something's wrong at one point or another, and I have a few questions for Cave..." he trailed off, then looked at her with a reassuring smile, "Never mind that. Here, take this," he reached into his pockets and gave her all the money in his wallet.

She reluctantly took it, "What for...?"

He ruffled her messy red hair, causing it to frizz even more, " _Dummy_ , for transportation. You're a fugitive on the run, remember? You gotta go home, Mel..."

She looked slightly sad, "Of course. Thank you, Mister Virgil." She reached up and planted a light kiss on his bruised cheek, then stepped back. "Take care of yourself."

He waved to her weakly, "Stay out of the spotlight, eh, Mel?"

She gave him one last wink and was gone in a flash of blue.

After staring at the empty spot where Mel had just been, Virgil finally sighed and resignedly dragged himself back toward the facility to face whatever consequences there would be. Obviously no one had discovered the missing test subject, or there would have been a chase.

"Virgil? You look terribly exhausted. What on earth were you doing?"

Virgil's head snapped up to face Caroline Short, her arms full of files. She was coming into work for the day.

He was tired, and he was angry, so he told her. She was his friend, after all, and he wanted to gauge her reaction.

After telling his tale, Caroline's face was sheet white and her eyes full of fear. Fear for him.

He thought himself a patient person, but at this particular moment that patience was running thin. "Caroline, how long has this been going on? How many test subjects are in there against their will?" his hands balled into fists.

She looked away, shame radiating from her, "This new... development has been going on for a couple years at most. It's... I agree with you. It's gotten out of hand." She took a shaky breath and looked into his eyes imploringly, "Virgil, Cave is intent on this Deviant business. Maybe... maybe you shouldn't come back."

He promised her he would go home for the day and she promised to cover up the mess in the stasis chamber. She would lie for him and maybe nobody would find out about the missing test subject. At least not any time soon.

Virgil had no intention of just disappearing, though. Cave Johnson had become his friend and Virgil wanted to hear the full story from Cave's point of view. Before he walked away from Aperture, he had to know.

The following night Virgil showed up in Cave Johnson's office without Caroline's knowledge. No need to worry the lady. After all, Cave would listen to him. He always had.

However, Virgil hadn't been expecting Cave's terrifying forcefulness.

"You did _what?_ " Cave Johnson thundered, standing up and practically knocking his desk chair over.

"It was the right thing to do! You can't... you can't just keep people here against their will!" Virgil implored.

"They're _Deviants_. Don't you realize what those deviations can do to benefit science... to benefit humanity?" Cave banged a fist on his desk.

Virgil pointed to himself and got in Cave's face, " _I'm_ a Deviant! Are you going to experiment on me too? Are you going to lock me in a freezer for the 'benefit' of humanity?"

Cave Johnson went uncharacteristically silent, clenching his jaw instead. Virgil continued, his voice lowering, "What about Caroline? Is she gonna become a test subject one day? Is that all Deviants are to you? A new way for you to line your pockets?"

Mr. Johnson grabbed his full cup of coffee and launched it across the room, the mug shattering on the floor. "How dare you, Virgil! Don't you know what lengths I've gone to protect you? Do you realize how many of my scientists come up here and beg me to let them test you?"

Virgil simmered, "You know, believe it or not, that doesn't make me feel much better about this situation. You should've just done it! Then I wouldn't have to live with the fact that I've been helping an organization kidnap and torture people!" his voice rose in volume again and he yanked painfully on his own hair, drawing tears to his eyes.

He pulled himself together and looked up at Cave, "I'm leaving. Right now. And you're not going to stop me," he gestured around the room, "This. This whole thing is going to end. It's going to blow up in your face... that I promise you." Then he turned to leave.

Something struck him in the back, and Virgil was overcome with pain. He landed on his back in shock, realizing he had lost all feeling in his body and had almost no control over his motor functions. He looked up at Cave towering over him, the man holding a Deviant Neutralizing Gun and looking somewhat guilty.

Virgil tried opening his mouth, but no sound came out. His vision started to blur and he could barely make out what Cave was saying.

"...I didn't want to do this... I'm... I'm really sorry, my boy..."

He tried desperately to fight the oncoming tide of unconsciousness, but it was a losing battle.

"...This is where our paths separate."

And Virgil fell into a long, deep sleep.

* * *

 _Present Day: Year 2103-_

Virgil watched the surface of the reservoir of water beneath him expectantly. Nothing yet.

He shivered in the moist frigid air that always condensed around the reservoir, rolling his coat sleeves down further. He rubbed the worn edge of the sleeve absent-mindedly; he had had the thing for years.

The old Aperture logos that had been sewn into the shoulders still filled him with remorse, but he couldn't get himself to part with it.

It still had plenty of useful pockets, after all.

Six years previously, Rick had found Virgil sleeping in a stasis chamber, hidden away in an ancient, closed-off laboratory. The two had worked together to create a decent living situation for themselves and the others who trickled in over the years.

Being over one hundred years out of time was... it was incredibly disconcerting. Virgil had only small ideas of what the surface was like now, based on what the others had told him. Things in the world above had only spiraled out of control while he had slept.

Even if his life hadn't turned out the way he had thought it would, he always told himself that Mel had been worth it. Utilizing tech that Chuck had snuck down to them, Virgil had looked her up, just to see what had become of her. Apparently she had become an Olympic bronze medalist.

 _Stay out of the spotlight..._ the cheek of that girl. _She should have gotten that silver medal_ , was always his second thought.

Virgil shifted, still contemplating why he had been left alone in a stasis chamber.

Had he been forgotten?

Had Cave Johnson had a change of heart in the end?

These were questions that ran through his head during his every waking second over the past six years. He hadn't been able to find any information about himself, so he guessed that he would never really know. Information about Cave and Caroline themselves had been redacted. A pity, really.

Virgil snapped back to reality as a bright blue head burst through the surface of the water, spraying him slightly.

"Mercy me, this water is freezing!" Ray shook his mop of blue hair wildly, spraying water in every direction.

"Did you fix the plug?" Virgil snapped. It was too early in the day, and he still missed the scent of coffee in the morning. Their own reserves had long run dry.

Ray saluted sarcastically, "Yessir! Plug is repaired and ready, Sir!"

Virgil rolled his eyes, "Get your blue butt out of the water then and get dried off before you die of hypothermia. Your deviation won't protect you from that."

Ray pulled himself up onto the catwalk next to Virgil and dried his hair with his discarded sweater.

Ray had been the perfect candidate to fix the reservoir leak. The nineteen-year old possessed a deviation that allowed him to go over an hour without breathing. It was surprisingly useful for a variety of situations.

He and his parents had been professional scuba divers and had traveled the world together. Ray insisted that the rest of the world wasn't as dangerous as North America for Deviants, so Ray had always displayed his turquoise and cobalt hair proudly. His blatant display of his deviation had eventually gotten him caught a few years back, sending him straight into Aperture science. He had no idea what had happened to his parents.

Virgil felt sorry for him, but Ray always managed to be upbeat for everyone. He loved to regale stories of his scuba adventures in every ocean, his close encounters with sharks.

God, never get the kid started on sharks... he was almost as bad as Big Dipper when he was discussing outer space. The two could power the earth with enthusiasm.

Ray's deep umber skin contrasted with his freakishly blue hair and big, turquoise eyes. He pulled on his now-damp matching blue sweater and grinned at Virgil. "Anything else we should fix while we're at it, Cap'n?"

Virgil scratched his head and looked around the chamber, taking his time. "Weeell, we could always start building Hugo's quarters down here. He wants his own personal space, and I say we give it to him," he snorted.

Ray stifled a laugh and turned his attention to the entrance where somebody was entering.

" _Fact_ : Hugo is an idiot and I concur your idea. Let's begin," Craig walked in, hands in his pockets.

"What are you doing down here? Isn't Rick making breakfast this morning?" Virgil asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That's precisely why I am down here."

Ray and Virgil shrugged at the same time. "Same."

Craig looked at them dubiously, "You've been here for hours. It's eight in the morning."

Virgil shrugged again, "Chuck was snoring and Ray didn't mind that I woke him up. The reservoir needed fixing... Also, Rick told us about his pancake plans last night."

"Some sacrifices just had to be made," Ray folded his arms across his chest smugly.

Big Dipper came careening into the chamber and bounded onto the catwalk, nearly throwing himself into the water below. Virgil caught him deftly, "What do you think you are doing?"

Big Dipper was in near tears, "I think... I think Rick made the pancakes out of _potatoes_." His agony was so prevalent that Virgil almost dropped the kid as he held back a guffaw of laughter. The kid grew heavier in his arms and he was forced to drop him onto the catwalk.

Big Dipper was just a small, pale, freckled kid with thick, wavy red hair. His eyes were a bright orange as evidenced by his deviation and his voice was high-pitched, yet to hit puberty. The boy had only been six when a bounty hunter had snatched him up, and he had been down with the men ever since, being raised in a decrepit underground facility.

 _What a childhood._

"Charlie, get off the catwalk right now or pull yourself together. You're going to collapse the entire thing with all of us on it," Virgil scolded him sternly.

Big Dipper pouted and pulled himself up, deactivating his unintentional use of his powers.

The kid also had control over the forces of gravity. He could make himself or anything else heavier than a ton or lighter than air. He tended to lose control over it when mentally upset, and would always make himself heavier than anyone could move when he was throwing a temper tantrum.

Luckily, he was getting older and that phase was dying out, but it was still a dangerous deviation that Virgil remained wary of.

 _"Hey, guys, where are you? Over,"_ Virgil's walkie talkie burst to life with Rick's voice. It was a rudimentary way of communicating, and they had only been able to salvage three walkie talkies, but it worked.

Virgil sighed, "Well, there goes my evasive maneuvering. Breakfast, anyone?"

* * *

Rick was not much of a cook. In fact, he loathed it with a passion.

However, the seven of them had long ago agreed upon a set cooking schedule, despite the fact that they were all completely useless in the kitchen. Shockingly enough, Rick had proved to be one of the least likely to cause an explosion. Unfortunately, that put him on cooking duty more often than the others. It was terrible.

But oh, did Rick miss pancakes. Pancakes and a good ol' fashioned beer. There wasn't much he could do about the beer, but at least he could try his hand at pancakes. How hard could it be?

Very hard.

He ended up having to substitute practically any pancake-sounding ingredient with potatoes and sugar. They had found an old jar of honey in the old Aperture kitchen stock and had all agreed that honey never expired. They scraped the mold off the top and used honey like a syrup.

Rick glanced up at the others seated at the conference table they used as a dining table. Their faces were pretty much what he expected, considering he was making the same revolted expression.

Big Dipper was the first to break the silence with an anguished cry, "These are _nothing_ like pancakes, Riiiick!"

A fork flew across the room.

"I told you I'm _allergic_ to sugar!"

"You're allergic to everything, Helios."

"Here, somebody pass that honey. I'll just eat that."

"I'm swearing off potatoes for the rest of my life."

Rick threw one of his pancakes at Hugo's bald head, evoking a shriek from the target. "Alright! Alright! I know they're bad! But that's what you get for putting me on kitchen duty all the time! We could always escape to the surface and get some _real_ pancakes!"

That silenced everyone. Good.

"I'm goin' for a walk... y'all make your own breakfast," Rick growled and stalked from the kitchen.

That was a typical mealtime episode, so Rick wasn't overly fazed by it. He donned his prized stetson hat and thick green jacket, ready to go out exploring. The nice thing about being stuck in an underground labyrinth was that he never had a shortage of places to find. They were always finding new useful things every week.

Rick had been stuck down in Aperture for seven years, longer than any of the others. He had had plenty of time for exploration. His first outing had earned him this old stetson and jacket somebody had left in a locker. It was still his favorite find.

At 34 years he was about the same age as Virgil, stuck underground during the prime of his life. Worse still, there were no ladies around.

He came upon his favorite secret passageway, guarded by a two-ton hatch. No one but Virgil would be able to penetrate it, but the guy never came down this way. He always minded his own business.

Rick lifted the hatch with relative ease and jumped inside before it swung closed. He deviation gave him incredible strength, but he wasn't invincible.

Although he had always hid his deviation pretty well in his earlier life, he had always loved pushing the limit and impressing all the ladies with his show of strength. His perfectly tanned complexion, wavy black hair, and sharp green eyes had always been a showstopper.

And then a bounty hunter had caught him unawares one night. He had gotten too confident in his late twenties... too cocky. A Deviant-Negating laser shot could neutralize any Deviant on the spot. Specialized bands were developed to interfere with a deviation's power, allowing Deviants to be captured with ease. The trick was to avoid them at all costs.

Rick puffed his cheeks, none of them had been very lucky, had they?

Although, he could have been turned into ashes seven years ago, so the question was really relative.

Besides, Rick hadn't counted himself out of the game yet. He wasn't in agreement with the others about staying down in Aperture for the rest of their lives. They could escape at one point, he knew. The lady up there couldn't neutralize all of them, right?

If worse came to worse, he was quite the lady-killer.

* * *

 _Hi all! Sorry, I know I said I had this chapter written out already, but I ended up reworking it a bit because I was unhappy with the original outcome. I also wanted to post all my character design sheets for this story on my deviantART account at the same time that I posted this chapter, so I was working on those all week as well. If you want to check out the designs, go to deviantART and type LOSHComixfan in the search bar. In my gallery I created a folder for this Portal fic. Enjoy! :)  
_

 _Back to the story! I've really been enjoying writing all these new characters and I hope it is not too overwhelming, considering seven new characters have joined the fray. O_o Wow._

 _Again, some characters belong to Harry Callaghan, so I'm not taking credit here. ;)_

 _Thanks for all the feedback and awesome comments! Have a great rest of your week everyone._

 _-Moe_


	22. Chapter 22

Despite Chell's few attempts to wake her, Glados had remained unconscious for a few hours, completely dead weight on Chell's back. The only sign of life was her shallow breathing and constant shivering. Attempting to put her coat on Glados hadn't worked, so she had finally been forced to ditch the heavy thing. The coat, that was.

Chell trudged on, desperate to reach the upper facilities. She tried to think of what she would do once she got there, but her mind was a blank. She was so _tired..._

Chell stumbled and tightened her grip on Glados before she could drop her. Glados didn't stir, and Chell continued on.

"Target acquired."

Chell jumped out of her skin, scrambling to unhook her portal gun to aim it at the offending voice.

"Ha ha, fooled ya!"

She turned around and found herself face to face with an old defective turret sitting on a large crate. _Down here?_

No... the turret had the same voice mannerisms as the defective turret, but it was a much older model. That would make sense, considering that they were in Old Aperture. Chell relaxed slightly, and ignoring the turret, walked away.

"Hey, wait, lady. Come back! I jus' wanna have a nice conversation with ya! Hey, lady! Lady!" the turret was calling after her.

 _I don't have time for this... gotta get out of here._

Chell dragged on, step by step by step.

* * *

"That's odd," Virgil muttered to himself, looking at one of many devices he stored in his coat.

"Hmm?" Chuck wasn't all that interested. He was more invested in eating spoonfuls of honey and keeping the jar away from Big Dipper.

"Chester picked up some movement out there. He said they were coming our way." Virgil got up from the table to grab their make-shift weapons and Deviant-Negating laser.

"What? Somebody's out there?" Big Dipper looked up excitedly.

"It could be an animal," shrugged Craig.

"Here, go find Rick and look for the intruders," Virgil tossed the stuff on the table.

"What are _you_ doing then?" Hugo's eyes slanted.

"Staying here to see if they or it comes this way. Last time Chester picked up something it ended up being a crow. Didn't you guys want a little excitement anyway?" Virgil replied, already walking away.

* * *

Rick came back after getting a summons on his walkie talkie, and was joined by Ray, Craig, Big Dipper, and Chuck on the search for Chester the Turret's so-called 'Intruders'. None of them actually expected to find anything, but Virgil was right as always. It brought them a little bit of excitement.

"I hope it's an _alien_!" Big Dipper exclaimed in a hushed, yet still very loud voice.

"I hope it's a nice juicy deer so we can eat it," Rick muttered.

Big Dipper gasped, but closed his mouth after Craig shushed him.

After a moment of silence, Rick spoke up again, "Actually, I hope it's a lady."

They all made a face at him, "Ew, girls are gross, Rick." Big Dipper stuck his tongue out.

Rick smacked him lightly over the head, careful not to use any of his deviation, "When's the last time you ever _saw_ a lady, little boy?"

Craig whispered, "For the sake of _all_ our sanities, let's hope it was only Chester pulling a prank."

"I told you, the turret needs some more turret friends," Ray broke in.

"He's a _turret_. He doesn't need friends."

 _"Fact-"_

"Shush."

"Don't-"

" _SHUSH_."

They all fell quiet again, listening.

The tell-tale sound of long fall boots resonated around the corner where they were currently hiding, causing all five to jump out of their skins.

"Oh mercy me, there's actually somebody there," Ray's eyes filled with terror.

"Somebody look, the suspense is killing me," Chuck groaned quietly.

"Okay fine, you babies... HOLY-" Rick spun around, his eyes as wide as saucers. "It _is_ a lady," he hissed with barely restrained excitement.

Craig yanked Rick backwards and took a look for himself, "Stars, he's _right_." He looked disturbed. All five of them made no moves, waiting for someone else to make the first move.

Craig finally huffed, lifted his handmade taser gun, and jumped out to face the fire.

* * *

Chell surprised herself by not reacting when five men, no, four men and one boy, jumped out at her from behind a corner, all bearing weapons. Well, more like holding onto them half-heartedly. The asian one was the only one pointing an actual weapon at her, attempting to make himself look threatening.

To be honest, Chell was dead on her feet and half-believed she was hallucinating the whole thing.

The catwalk made a wrenching noise as the men made their way forward, knocking her back to her senses.

Her eyes widened and she put one hand on her portal gun in alarm. This was real. There were people down here...

"Hey, hey! Don't point that thing at her! Look, she's carrying somebody," the one with the stetson scolded the other man, slapping the device away.

"Glados."

Chell shrunk backward a little bit, tightening her grip on Glados.

"Glados...? _That's_ Glados?" the man with the stetson exclaimed, and suddenly they were all pointing their weapons at her.

The overweight security officer growled and slapped the stetson guy's weapon down, "No, _she's_ not Glados. She's obviously just a test subject. The person she's _carrying_ is Glados," he clarified.

Chell took another step backward.

The asian man frowned, "Which begs the question... who are you? What are you doing down here? And why do you have... _her_ with you?"

She stared blankly at them, unsure if she could broadcast her thoughts to more than one person at a time. She had never had the opportunity to try.

The stetson man dropped his weapon on the ground and walked toward her slowly, his hands raised and his voice sickeningly sweet, "Hey, hey... you know who that is you have there, right? We can help you. Just drop her and come this way. Now that Glados is out of the way we can all escape. Doesn't that sound nice?" he smiled at her patronizingly.

Chell scrunched up her face and glared at him, _'I'm not an invalid, and I'm not letting you touch her!'_ She clutched Glados with a protectiveness that surprised even her.

All five of them flinched, which answered her broadcasting question.

"Lady! You can talk into our minds!" the red-headed kid shouted with enthusiasm.

The stetson man faltered and lowered his hands again. "Okay, sorry... I guess you never know what you're going to get with a test subject. But still... why protect her? Don't you know what she's done?"

Chell grit her teeth, _'Of course I do, and I'm just as surprised as you are that I'm doing this. But she's under my protection, so you won't lay a finger on her, understand?'_

No one made a move, everyone calculating and deciding what to say or do next. The men didn't seem to know what to make of Chell.

Chell's eyes drooped again and she felt her adrenaline rush running out. Great...

 _'Look, I'm tired. She's in need of medical assistance. Just point me in the direction of an infirmary and we'll be out of your hair,'_ Chell told them tiredly.

Before they could respond, her knees buckled and she landed on the catwalk, nearly dropping Glados in the process.

The stetson man rushed over and steadied her, keeping them from toppling over the side. "Heavens, lady, forget all that. We're being incredibly rude... let us help you," he gave her a dazzling smile and reached for Glados.

Chell shrank back, still wary of the strange man.

He held up his hands again, "I promise I won't hurt her... you have Rick's word," he winked and she let him take the burden off her shoulders.

Before she knew it, somebody was supporting her and helping her walk as she stumbled in a daze.

 _Ha... maybe I'll finally get a good night's rest._

And she let her worries go.

* * *

 _Sorry, I know this one's pretty short... :) I've been very busy and I have a lot of stuff coming up for the next few months, so updating will be much slower for awhile. I'm still writing, but I don't have much free time right now... ;) In addition, my computer was knocked over by my dog last week and completely broke (Surface Pros are not super resilient... ugh). So I am currently borrowing someone else's computer and I can't figure out what writing program to use. I used OpenOffice on my last Pro, but when I downloaded it here it's completely different and absolutely terrible. I hate it, haha. Sooo... we'll see if I can find a better program (Free. I'm broke). Anyway, sorry to complain! Thanks for your patience and have a fantastic week all!_

 _-Moe_


	23. Chapter 23

Glados awoke feeling miserable, but not-quite-as-miserable as before. She felt warmer, which was an improvement from the frigid temperatures from before. Except...

She was covered in a nice, thick blanket. Where was she? Where was...

"Chell...?" she asked softly, her voice hoarse.

"Oh, hello. You're up, that's good," a man's voice spoke up from behind her.

She attempted to move her head to look toward the unknown voice, but hissed at the throbbing pain in her head. Nevermind that.

"Ah, don't move. Sorry," he slid next to the cot she was lying on on a wheeled swivel chair. "Better?"

She had to squint to see him in the low-lighting of the room. "What...? Who are you? Where's-"

"Look, relax before you give yourself a stroke. I'm not quite done repairing your little head gadget, so your neurological system is still on the fritz. On top of that, your body was fighting infection from your damaged leg which, by the way, seems to be healing nicely. Anyway, I'm not really a doctor, but I consider myself to be a jack-of-all-trades kinda guy."

She stared at him with a dead-panned look.

"Right, I'm sorry. Your friend Chell is right over there sleeping like you. You've both been sleeping for a couple days now... She got up once, but you both seemed exhausted," he volunteered.

She glanced to the side to check if he was telling the truth. The lump on the cot to her left seemed to resemble Chell, so she took him for his word.

"She filled me in on how you came to be down here, but she didn't seem overly eager talking about it." He paused.

"You're also still down in lower Aperture... the others ran into you and your friend near where we keep camp."

Her curiosity was piqued, "There are... more of you down here?"

The man's face twisted, "Well... we're kind of stuck here considering the only way out is... up." He looked uncomfortable, seeming to remember who he was talking to.

He scratched his head and looked to the doorway, "You're pretty lucky, you know. If it weren't for your friend there, I think the others would have tossed you over the catwalk. I'm trying to be pleasant here, but I think there's no use dancing around the elephant in the room."

Glados frowned, "Then why are you attempting to repair my implant?" she growled.

He shrugged, "I personally don't have the same vendetta against you as the others do. Aperture employees are all the same to me. Not that I'm condoning your apparent actions..." he looked her in the eyes. "Anyway, like I said, Chell wasn't overly willing to talk about the man who took your place up there-"

"Look, if you and your other group of vagrants were thinking of escaping now that I've been ousted down here, you should think twice. That man is a buffoon, but he's dangerous. His deviation makes that so," she smiled with fake sweetness, "But I'm sure we can work something out." Probably.

"Hm," the man went quiet, adjusting his posture so that he was sitting cross-legged on the tiny swivel chair. He nodded to his desk behind them, "That's an interesting little gadget you've got there. I've never seen anything so intricate before... does it have something to do with your deviation?" he asked.

She shivered involuntarily, "Y-yes. In fact, I'd rather you not go sticking your archaic tools in it," she went to sit up. It was as if a flash-bang went off in her head, and she cried out as her vision went black and her ears buzzed.

Moments later the man came back into focus, his head uncomfortably close to her face as he was saying something to her, looking alarmed. Slowly, she realized she was clutching her head, and unclenched her fingers in response. Her cheeks were wet, she realized with embarrassment. She wiped the hot tears off her face and placed her shaking hands by her sides. So much for moving around.

She was sick and tired of being observed in such a state. It was ridiculous.

His voice finally registered to her senses, "Can you hear me now? I _told_ you not to move. You should have seen the brain wave spike that showed up on my scanner. Grief..." he muttered something under his breath, noticeably stressed out.

Glados didn't say anything. She stared straight past him on her side, focusing on keeping her breathing steady.

He sighed, "Look, just get some more rest while I work on your device. And..." he patted her shoulder in a way he supposed was comforting, "I already know your name, so it's only fair you know mine. I'm Virgil; it was interesting finally meeting you, Glados." Then he was out of her sight and presumably back to work.

Glados sighed and closed her eyes, allowing the stranger to have access to her implant. It wasn't as if he could make it any worse...

* * *

Hours later, Virgil turned the fixed implant absent-mindedly in his hands, deep in thought. He understood how it stabilized her nervous system and counteracted her deviation, but there were strange additional programs in place he hadn't wanted to touch.

One program seemed to be of Glados' own making, and he wondered if it was what she had used to control Aperture's mainframe. If so, he was impressed and wanted to ask her how it worked. He didn't bother fixing it because she probably wouldn't need it again.

The other program though... it bothered him. It was as if someone had added an entirely new interface to the original design. This new program was designed to run interference, basically completely dampen the amygdala. Her emotional processing.

 _Who would do that...?_

He had decided to remove that program entirely. It was inhuman, dampening someone's emotions.

 _'You look frustrated...'_

Virgil jumped, startled by Chell's inner voice interrupting his thought processes.

"Jeez, don't _do_ that," he sat backwards on his swivel chair and turned to where she sat on her cot.

She blinked apologetically, _'Sorry... I'm still pretty new to this.'_

He sighed and ran his hands through his hair, spiking it even more. "No, I've been working on this thing for hours. It's finally done and I'm ready for a nap." He smiled softly.

She frowned, _'Then why the frustration?'_

He glanced at the implant in his hand, "It's not... it's not frustration. I'm _confused_... I suppose," he remarked slowly, staring toward the doorway.

Chell said nothing.

He stood up and started working on reattaching Glados' repaired implant to her head. After successfully attaching it a few minutes later he showed Chell the machinery displaying Glados' brain activity.

"Look at that, it's already working. She'll be good as new in a few days," he smiled in satisfaction and spun his chair in slow circles.

He stopped after another minute of silence and opened his mouth, closed it, opened it. "Hypothetically... what do you think would happen if you removed someone's emotions?" he asked her, staring up at the ceiling.

Chell frowned _, 'You would have an automaton?'_

Virgil nodded, "Someone stripped of a conscience."

Chell glanced at Glados' sleeping form, _'Somebody with no moral qualms about... killing.'_ She finished Virgil's thought.

He made eye contact with her knowingly, "Why bother with morals at all? If you don't feel anything, that is..."

Chell shifted uncomfortably, _'Are you telling me she doesn't have emotions? That doesn't make sense because-'_

"Whoa, slow down. She's normal now. Well, as normal as she's gonna be. But..." he fidgeted in his chair, "I think part of what her implant was designed to do was stunt her emotional growth. When the implant was damaged, that dampening effect stopped. I'm only warning you because I don't know how that will affect her. I just thought you should know," he shrugged.

Chell thought he looked as if he had more to say, but nothing else came.

She balled her hands into fists, feeling distress rise up in her. If what he was saying was true, then...

 _ **"I'm going to need to make some adjustments..."**_

She shook her head to rid herself of those foul memories of her father. But no matter how much she tried to ignore them, they stuck with her.

Glados' memories...

Chell was sure now. They had been Glados' memories that she had inadvertently seen. Her newfound deviation must have picked them up while she was sleeping.

Her dad had been raising two girls at the same time in two very different ways.

At least it explained Glados' episode earlier. The injured, frightened girl shaking in Chell's arms versus the cold-hearted killer in upper Aperture just didn't add up. It did now.

She slammed her fists on the cot, letting go of some pent-up anger.

Virgil swiveled to give her a concerned look, "Whoa, are you alright?"

She pinched the bridge of her nose, taking deep breaths. _'Yeah, I'm sorry... there's just too many unanswered questions.'_ She shook it off and attempted a weak smile, _'Look, if she's going to be sleeping for a while, is there anywhere around here to take a shower?'_

He grinned and stood to help her up, "Yes there is. You could certainly use one."

 _'Wow, you sure know how to woo a lady,'_ she rolled her eyes.

"Well I've never won any awards for tactfulness. However, once you meet the others I'll downright look like prince charming."

* * *

After handing off Chell into the care of the others and checking to see if Glados' vital signs remained stable, Virgil marched straight up into the place he had sworn he wouldn't go.

Cave Johnson's office.

Virgil phased through the locked door and flipped the light switch experimentally. The generator kicked in and the bright light flickered on, lighting up the disorganized office. He took a step backward, wanting to flee the old office space. He had spent many a night here playing cards with Cave and Caroline, coffee brewing in Cave's personal coffee maker that still sat in the corner.

What had happened to them?

Virgil still held resentment toward what Cave had done to him. He had been deceived, shot by someone he had held in high regard, then stuck in stasis for over a hundred years. It was difficult for him not to be angry.

But being angry wasn't in his nature. Not really.

He began rifling through files strewn across Cave's desk, muttering to himself, "'Too many unanswered questions' indeed." He wasn't even quite sure what he was looking for, but he would know it when he found it.

An hour later of tipping over filing cabinets and ransacking the entire office, Virgil hit the jackpot.

His hands shook as he lifted a thick, glossy file.

 _What is this...?_

In bold, red handwriting the file read, _**"The G.L.a.D.O.S. project".**_

Virgil flipped the file open and groaned, rubbing his eyes with his palms.

"Cave... what did you _do_?"

* * *

Hey guys! So sorry about the lack of updates! Like I mentioned before, I have a few very busy months coming up ahead and I'm about to start a new job (A writing job! Holy moly!) As a result my time has been much less... free. But I'm still writing (slowly but surely). I've also hit a spot in the story that I didn't completely plan out (once I get past the next couple chapters it should speed up again... so sorry about the slowness of pace for the moment). Adding a bunch of new characters calls for a bit of a slow-down. ;) Anyway, I'm thankful for y'all reading my story! Enjoy and have a wonderful day!

-Moe


	24. Chapter 24

For the two days that Chell and Glados stayed in the infirmary, Rick spent the time coaching the others on how they ought to treat the women. Well, Chell at least. They were all in full agreement that Glados still needed to be dealt with, but Virgil wouldn't let them near the infirmary.

Rick's advice hadn't gone over as well as he'd hoped. Big Dipper and Ray had balked at the idea of having to take a shower every day now that ladies were around, Chuck wouldn't listen to him because he was already married and knew how to handle women, and Hugo flat out refused to lock himself in a closet until they left.

Craig was the only one who helped clean up a bit, but that was his normal routine anyway.

Rick cursed his very existence when Virgil showed up unannounced with Chell in tow, interrupting their classic movie saga.

"Hello everyone, as you know, this is Chell," Virgil gestured enthusiastically at Chell, who was looking particularly embarrassed and bedraggled, "Chell, these are my... compatriots."

And then everything did _not_ go as rehearsed.

"Fact: We are not of the same country, therefore-"

"This is not the time, Craig," Rick hissed, evoking a glare from the other.

Hugo piped up, "It's _never_ the time."

Ray poked his head out of his and Big Dipper's pillow fort, "Hi, Chell! Please tell me you know how to cook, because- _oof!"_

Big Dipper sprang from the fort, knocking it over on top of Ray, "Lady! Lady! I have something to show you!" and he ran from the room.

"There's a chart in the kitchen area where you can look at everyone's scheduled bathroom times-" Hugo was blithering on.

" _Fact_ : You can ignore Hugo because he is an imbecile."

"Stop that! Stop calling me that! I am not an imbecile! Do you know-"

"'Who I am?' Unfortunately, yes we do."

Big Dipper came careening into the room sporting his prized astronaut helmet he had taken from a dilapidated Aperture display. "Lady! Look what I found down here! I'm Charlie, but you can call me Big Dipper. That's Helios, and Rick, and Hubble, and R-" his voice continued to increase in speed in classic Big Dipper fashion.

"Quit that, she doesn't care about your helmet!" Ray pounced on Big Dipper.

"Get offa me!" Suddenly Ray was floating towards the ceiling, giggling like a maniac.

"ALRIGHT! That's enough, everybody _shut up_!" Rick intervened desperately.

The sudden silence was filled with a gigantic snore from Chuck, who had been sleeping soundly on the couch despite the ruckus.

Rick turned to Virgil, who had managed to keep a grin on his face the entire time, his eye only twitching slightly. "Weeelll, as I was saying, I have some things I need to attend to and Chell here needs a tour of the place and someone to show her how to use the shower facilities."

"OH! ME! _ME_ -"

 _"I'll do it!"_ Rick shouted, pushing Virgil backward out the doorway and slamming the door shut behind him before any of the others could escape.

To her credit, Chell didn't seem to be completely afraid of them yet, but Rick wasn't happy with how their first impressions were going. "I'm really sorry about that," he wheezed, pushing past Virgil and offering his hand out, "They're... crazy," he finished lamely.

 _'You seem to have crushed the door handle,'_ Chell pointed behind him.

"That was on purpose."

Virgil shrugged his shoulders with a smirk and spoke up, "Alright, I'll leave her in your capable hands then. I have a list of things to do today," and he started to walk away, "Behave yourself."

Rick rolled his eyes. He was the perfect gentleman.

He eyed Chell, "Let's just get you some clothes to change into once you're done. We have old uniforms lying around the place, so one of them ought to fit you."

Chell looked grateful as they walked silently down the catwalk.

* * *

"What am I going to do? What am I going to do...? What am I-" Doug was rocking back and forth, his arms wrapped around his knees. He was banging his head on the wall behind him ever-so-slightly.

What _was_ he going to do? Chell was gone... the Englishman she had accompanied had lost his mind and killed both her and Glados. Yes, Doug had wanted Glados gone, but the problem still remained: How was he going escape? Although...

It wasn't as if he deserved to escape anymore.

 _'Doug.'_

"What should I do? Maybe I should just give myself away... maybe the boy would be merciful, you know? He probably didn't _mean_ to kill her-"

 _'Doug.'_

"Actually, that's exactly what I should do. I can't keep hiding like this forever... Can't keep-"

 _'Douglas!'_

Doug started at the snap of his companion cube's voice in his thoughts, "What...? What? I'm sorry..." he groaned and pulled at his hair in frustration.

 _'Douglas, you can't keep blaming yourself for Chell's fate. Let's focus on the opportunity you_ do _have now.'_

Rattmann scoffed, " _What_ opportunity? She fell into the abyss, Cube."

 _'Listen to me. That boy that now thinks he is in charge of Aperture is going to fall apart under the pressure. Glados designed the system to work with her own implant and deviation, whereas he is hanging onto it with pure luck. You could overpower him.'_

Doug gave his cube a withering stare, "You usually give me pretty good advice Cube, but that 'boy' is still far more powerful than I am. I'm... I'm all alone. No offense."

He and his cube fell silent for a few minutes, contemplating.

 _'What if... what if I told you you didn't have to be alone?'_

Rattmann sighed, "Look, I didn't mean you were worthless-"

 _'No, listen. I didn't bring this up before because it was too dangerous for you. But now we only have the boy to watch out for... you may have a chance to do it.'_

Despite himself, Doug looked at his cube with growing curiosity, "Fine... go on."

 _'There is somebody who could be of much use to you that's been put into a Type 1 stasis chamber. You could get to the body and awaken it...'_

"You're proposing a Chell 2.0? How do _you_ even know there's someone here who can help me? You're literally a cube. A metal box."

 _'I haven't been entirely honest with you, Douglas Rattmann. Yes, I owe you my life for saving me from the incinerators and I've genuinely wanted to help you. However... I was hoping that, maybe... you would someday be able to return the favor.'_

"But finding a body in a Type 1 stasis pod? Those are the most powerful Deviants Aperture has stored away... I can't get into those. It's maximum security clearance."

 _'You have to.'_

"I can't-"

 _'Doug! It's your best shot at getting out of here!'_

Doug was becoming exasperated, "No, I can't- I can't _do_ this anymore! Who is in that stasis chamber you want me to access so badly?"

A beat.

 _'It's me. It's my body in that chamber and I want it back.'_

* * *

"I'm _fine_."

"Yes, I know. You're welcome by the way."

"Then, Chell, tell this idiot to let me leave this little prison of his," Glados glared pointedly at Chell, who backed up with her hands raised.

 _'Unfortunately, Virgil's got a point. A couple of those guys out there want to wring your neck. It wouldn't really be a fair fight, Glados.'_

"For them," Virgil coughed.

"Anyway, the infirmary is not a prison, so there's no need to be so melodramatic. I like to think I keep it nice and cozy in here!" He patted his ugly swivel chair affectionately.

"Riiiight. Well, I'm certainly not concerned with you or your precious man-cave. I'll just be taking my lunatic test-subject and we'll be on our way, thank you very much," Glados elbowed Chell backwards toward the exit.

Chell stood her ground, _'I'm... I'm not ready to leave just yet. Besides, your implant might be fixed, but your body still needs time to heal. I mean,_ I'm _still sore and it's been a week now.'_ She gestured to herself dramatically.

If she was being honest with herself, Chell was really starting to enjoy the strange life the males had led down in lower Aperture. The constant dangers of the outside world were problems of the past... they had sustainable food, water, and even electricity... and the company was amusing. What would she do when she left? Where would she go?

Keeping these treasonous thoughts to herself was in her best interests, Chell knew, as she felt Glados' quiet rage practically radiating from her.

" _Fine_ ," Glados hissed, "But if that _moron_ up there blows us all to kingdom come, then it's on you." She hoisted herself up onto the lab desk and folded her arms in an attempt to look taller and menacing, except she looked anything but.

As Chell exited the room, she vaguely wondered why she had ever been scared of Glados in the first place.

Oh, that's right... she had been a homicidal maniac in charge of the entire facility.

A little voice piped up from Chell's thoughts: _And what will she do once she's restored herself to the mainframe...?_

Virgil said he had disabled the emotion-repressing program in her implant, so the chances were things would be different. Right?

Right.

Chell wasn't ready to tackle that particular problem quite yet.

Besides, they hadn't felt any more earthquakes, so the chances were high that Wheatley had figured out how to control the mainframe. Hopefully.

"Lady! Hey, Lady!" Big Dipper came running down the catwalk, his old Aperture long-fall boots clanging loudly against the metal.

She caught him as he nearly bowled both of them over the railing, _'Yes, yes...? I told you to be careful down here,'_ she scolded lightly.

He managed to look somewhat sheepish, "I know, I know, I know. Sorry, but I thought of your name! Your space name!" his excitement overcame him and he hugged her around the waist with stars in his eyes.

Chell affectionately patted his head and with some effort, peeled the boy off of her. Big Dipper had grown quite fond of Chell over the past week and she secretly wondered if it was his way looking for a maternal bond. Either that or it was a kid crush. Poor kid.

 _'So... what did you decide on?'_ She was curious to know what his nickname for her would be. He had given space-related names to all the others and she had laughed when he called Glados 'Prometheus'. When she had attempted to correct him for mixing up his Greek mythology and astrophysics, he had launched into a very intellectual conversation about space. Apparently Prometheus was the name of a small satellite orbiting Saturn... who knew.

"Your name is Polaris!" he grinned up at her, "The North star!"

 _'Oh...?'_

"Yeah, because Rick says you're gonna lead us out of here! We'll follow you to the outside world and we can look at the stars again. _Real_ stars!"

Chell's smile faltered. The North star. A guiding star...

 _'Did he now?'_

Chell had seen the growing tension among the rowdy group since their arrival and had tried to ignore it. A few, mostly Rick, wanted to high-tail it out of Aperture and get living in the world again. Others like her... not so much. She pitied Big Dipper, honestly. He had no idea what it was like out there.

 _'Charlie...'_

"It's Big Dipper."

 _'I know, sorry. Look...'_ she bent down to eye-level with the short pre-teen, _'Did Rick tell you anything else about what's outside?'_

She watched his jaw clench in a very adult fashion, "I'm not stupid, _Polaris_. I remember what was outside. My daddy and I lived there when the bounty hunters took him away..."

Chell was taken aback, _'Oh, I... I should have known better. I'm sorry,'_ she fidgeted nervously.

He smiled at her with tears in his eyes, "Y'know... he taught me all about space. He said in the future we were going to forget all about deviations and we were gonna take rockets into space again like we used to... He was the Big Dipper and I was the Little Dipper."

"We were gonna build our own rocket together and go to _space_."

He sniffed and looked into her with determination, "Now that he's gone and I'm the Big Dipper, I've gotta get back to the surface and build the rocket for us. I can't get to space from down here."

His demeanor shifted again and he pushed away from Chell lightly, "Ima go help Hubble make dinner. He promised no potatoes if I help clean," and off he ran.

Chell sat and pondered on the catwalk after he had gone. What were any of them going to do with themselves?

* * *

"I can't believe you didn't tell me about this earlier," Doug muttered to his Cube as he squeezed through the empty tube leading to the highly-secured stasis chambers. The highly-secured stasis chambers where apparently its _body_ was kept.

 _'It wouldn't have helped anything. I've been spending the past four years keeping you sane.'_

"Still," he grunted as his lab coat caught on a piece of metal, "It's give and take, Cube. You know basically everything there is to know about me and you never gave me any _indication_ that you still remembered who you used to be."

The abandoned Companion Cube project that Glados had led as a child had left hundreds of human consciousnesses stuck in metal cubes. It was her second attempt at creating AI's and the other scientists had thought it a brilliant idea to involve the human brain itself. It was deemed a dead end and the Companion Cubes were discarded. Doug had rescued his cube after hearing its voice calling to him with his telepathic deviation.

He had known his cube's consciousness was in a much better state than the others (the other cubes had never had one coherent thought and had only babbled at him). He kicked himself for not realizing it went further than that.

"What makes you think your body is still there and still alive?" he had asked.

 _'All the bodies are still alive,'_ the Cube seemed to be scoffing at him, _'They used the consciousness of the Deviants they most wanted to keep. It was a win-win scenario for them: They kept the body alive and could thus harvest the Deviant DNA for as long as they wanted and they also could use the mind for their other little lab experiments. Luckily, the experiment seemed to be successful on me to the point where my mind is still intact.'_

Doug was still reeling as he shimmied down the tube, nearly hitting his head against the grate leading into the room. _'This is their highly-secured stasis room?'_ He switched to telepathy to avoid detection.

 _'It was before that English boy was put in charge. He has no idea how to the run the mainframe... I told you so. If Glados had been in charge you would have been torn to shreds by the laser-grid net that's supposed to be here.'_

Doug jumped slightly, pulling away from the grating.

He swore the cube laughed at him, _'Just kidding. Relax, Douglas.'_

"You sure know an awful lot about this place for being an excised consciousness in a box," Doug growled out loud.

 _'Look, we can talk more about me once you've reunited me with my body. Let's focus on the task at hand here,'_ the cube retorted.

"Are you certain the boy won't be watching this chamber? It's an awful leap of faith if you ask me..."

 _'Getting cold feet now? You were going to throw yourself to his mercy before. I promise you if you free me we will get out of here safely. You have my word, Doug,'_ the cube reassured him.

The cube wasn't wrong. Doug kicked the grating out and lowered himself into the cool chamber, taking in the dozens of pods neatly stacked in rows up to the ceiling.

"There aren't that many of them," Doug breathed a sigh of relief as their presence didn't seem to trigger any alarms.

 _'Yes, well, if Aperture got its hands on all of the most powerful Deviants out there, then they wouldn't actually be that good, would they?'_

"You just basically called yourself a failure, you know," he opened the registry and started to scan through it.

 _'Far from it. I told you we'll talk about me once I'm back to myself again. Look for the last name Nakajima,'_ the cube told him.

He swiped up on the screen, "Found it."

Mechanical arms rotated and lifted a pod out from the wall near the ceiling, lowering it down to Doug.

He used his sleeve to wipe a thin layer of dust off from the pod's transparent top. He stopped and found himself staring.

"This is... you?"

 _'Yes. Good job, Doug.'_

"It's a woman."

 _'Really? I had never realized...'_

"No need to be snarky. I just hadn't thought about it..." Doug trailed off.

 _'What did you think I was? A bird?'_

"It's just that, your voice never occurred to me as being male or female. It was just a voice in my head. You have a real identity... and you've been stuck in a _cube_. I'm... I'm so sorry..." his voice wavered.

The cube was silent for a moment.

 _'Okay, don't get all emotional on me, Douglas. It wasn't your fault... I never told you everything, remember? Now focus on setting up the processor like I instructed you...'_

After an hour of setting up the right technology and hoping he didn't bungle it up, Doug sat his cube on the pod, ready to restore the consciousness to the human body.

His hand wavered over the restoration button, "What if this doesn't work... what if it leaves you brain-dead or something?"

 _'It won't.'_

"You have too much confidence... I can't be alone like this, Cube-"

 _'It's Lira. My name is Lira. And you're not going to be alone. This is going to work... you'll see.'_

Doug took a deep breath, steadying himself, "Okay, Lira Nakajima. I'll see you on the other side."

And he pushed the button.

* * *

 _Hi everyone! I'm so sorry about the long delay. Like I said, I've been super busy and finding time to write is kinda tough... It's still a really busy Fall coming up, but hopefully I can knock out a chapter here and there. Thanks for your understanding!_

 _Also, I never submit chapters so soon after writing them, so I hope it turns out okay. I usually let them sit for a few weeks before posting so I can look them over, but since it's been so long I figured I'd just post it. :) Enjoy and have a great weekend all!_

 _-Moe_

 _(P.S.- OC warning...? Kinda? I mean, I consider the Companion Cube to be a character too, but I had to get a little more creative with who I wanted it to be. She was created for good story flow and I had a lot of fun with her character design too. I'll post that one up on my dA when we get further along in the story... ) ;)_


	25. Chapter 25

Nothing was happening.

Doug Rattmann sat next to the pod where his cube- Lira's body lay, still asleep. She was alive, her breathing so shallow that he could barely see it. The cube was silent.

Interestingly enough, Lira was still wearing her original clothing whereas all the other test subjects he had ever seen had been changed into Aperture uniforms. She wore an Asian-style black coat, bright pink leggings, and black flats. He also took a moment to examine her facial features. She was Japanese, obviously, since her last name was Nakajima. Her long raven hair framed her sharp, pale face. There was no movement. Not a twitch.

Her brain functions had all but stopped after he had initially reconnected her consciousness to her body. There had been an initial burst of brain activity and then... nothing.

He knew it. He had known this would happen. Lira's body hadn't been able to take the restoration process and now he was left completely and utterly alone.

Doug groaned and dug his fists into his forehead, shaking slightly. It wasn't fair. _It just wasn't-_

Lira took in a deep, gasping breath and a startled Doug nearly fell backwards off his chair. He grabbed the electrogram pad off the stasis pod and watched as the brain activity spiked and fell to normal parameters. They had actually done it!

Lira rapped on the lid of the pod, rubbing her head with her other hand.

"Oh, sorry," Doug leaned over and opened the pod for her and heard a sigh in relief as a rush of fresh air flooded in. "Wait, don't sit up yet. I need to check your vitals and make sure that there wasn't any permanent damage done and-"

"Douglas," Lira coughed, her voice scratchy from disuse, "I'm fine. It worked." Then she sat up and promptly plucked the empty Companion Cube from the counter.

Doug tensed up, "But- But you- I-I-mean-" he stuttered. His face was flushed with embarrassment and it dawned on him that he couldn't remember how to talk to human beings properly. Especially beautiful ones with scarcely a hair out of place. He suddenly felt very foolish and self-conscious.

"You need to relax. The process went just about as smoothly as I said it would, right?" she flashed him a quick smile and her bright pink eyes pulled away from examining the Cube to reassure him. Pink eyes. Just like the hearts on the Companion Cube.

"What... what is your Deviation anyway?" Doug sat forward, his scientific side taking over his lack of social skills.

Her expression turned dark and she quickly swallowed it down. "Well, I..." her eyes looked slightly uncertain as she seemed to weigh whether or not to trust him with this information. She broke eye contact with him and touched his knee lightly, making him jump.

"I can do _this_."

And suddenly Doug Rattmann was staring at a carbon copy _himself_. Clothes and everything.

He jumped up with newfound energy and quickly ran around the pod, examining the clone from every angle. "That's incredible! You're a shape-shifter?"

"Yes," even the voice was his own. "But that's not all."

 _'I can copy the deviation of anyone I am mimicking as long as I am using their image,'_ her voice interrupted his thoughts.

He gaped, "That's... fantastic."

Her features shifted into a different female's; someone Doug didn't recognize. She lifted up her hand to reveal bright pink flames. Then she shifted into a thin dark-skinned male and made her hands invisible. Doug grinned like a child, intrigued by this raw power.

Lira shifted back to her own self and groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Are-are you alright? I should probably get you some water or something-" he quickly stood up and looked around like a lost puppy.

She held up her hand, "No, it's fine. It's just... been awhile. My Deviation may have a lot of strengths, but shape-shifting is..." she trailed off, "It's a bit painful actually. I admit I got caught up in showing off." She smiled weakly at him and then it was gone. "I have a healing Deviation as well to counteract the damage that shifting does to my body. It's the only reason I believe my consciousness was left intact and why I survived the restoration process. That's why I knew I would be fine, but I apologize for worrying you, Douglas."

He was silent for a moment. "A healing Deviation along with a shape-shifting Deviation? How did that happen...? I mean, it seems a bit..." he trailed off and reddened. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to probe."

Lira smirked, "You are a scientist and I would be highly disappointed in you if you _didn't_ question me. I was born into a Black Market organization called Red Vista that handled Deviants. They took my father who was a shape-shifter and my mother who was a self-healing Deviant and, well, bred them. That's what they do." She looked at him again and he shrunk under the weight of her gaze. There was a lot of pain in there...

"I've slaved for them my whole life doing their dirty work. Shape-shifting is a rare gift that very very few can handle... as you can tell. It's useful for all sorts of underground things. I won't go into the dark details, but you get the picture."

"How did you end up here, then?" Doug asked softly.

That evoked a humorless laugh, "They assigned me to Aperture for information retrieval. When I was in the middle of fulfilling my mission I decided that this was my chance. I wanted out."

She crossed her legs and smiled mischievously at him, "I _let_ them catch me after showing them what I could do. I knew that Aperture would throw me in a stasis pod and I didn't care. I was done. Red Vista wouldn't be able to get to me down here."

She growled, "But I didn't know they were going to rip my soul out and stick me in a metal _box_ for the rest of my life," she practically spat and heaved the empty Companion Cube across the room. Doug jumped slightly as it banged against another pod and echoed loudly.

"I'm... I'm really..."

"Doug, I don't need to hear any more of your apologetic platitudes," her gaze softened as a hurt expression flickered across his face. She sighed, "Sorry. I know you didn't have anything to do with this experiment. I just... I just want freedom."

Doug stifled his own rising anxiety and gave her a reassuring grin, "Well, then what are we waiting for? Let's go get some."

* * *

Wheatley wasn't feeling very well.

His head pounded mercilessly and he twitched constantly as excess electrical impulses ravaged his body. Every time he had tried to disconnect himself from the mainframe the entire building shook and spewed off warnings of reactor meltdowns and malfunctions of every kind. Glados must have booby-trapped the mainframe before he had taken over control.

That must be it.

So he stayed connected at all times. And it wasn't as if he _wanted_ to disconnect, since the mainframe gave him so much power and energy and- and-

Man alive, it hurt so much.

Would the reactor actually blow if he dropped the connection for just a couple of hours? Was it just a cruel trick on Glados' part?

"What do you two think?" he croaked at Atlas and P-Body, who both started to chitter loudly in response.

He groaned as his migraine drove another spike through his skull and hissed, "Nevermind. Nevermind. Just... deactivate yourselves, won't you?" The two robots fell silent and he didn't care to check whether or not they had actually done what he had asked.

"Done and done."

Wheatley's head shot up at the unknown voice and he found himself face-to-face with Chell, who was standing over the two deactivated robots.

He gaped and ignored his body's protests as he stood from his throne to face the woman he had doomed to death.

"It's not... It's not possible. I thought I—"

"Killed me?" she spoke. Her words were _sharp_ , her expression was _sharp_ , and _sharp_ needles were pricking his brain...

He stumbled and dropped to his knees, the physical effort too much for his over-stressed body to take. "I'm _sorry_... I'm sorry. I know you don't want to believe me, but-" he gasped as he ran out of air.

"You don't look well," Chell remarked emotionlessly.

Wheatley stifled another groan, "No, luv, I'm fine... I'm fine. It's just Glados. She did something-" his eyes widened in horror and his mouth twitched, "Glados. Where is she?"

"She's not here."

"No, no... you were working with her. You're here to take back control of my facility. MY facility!" his voice grew panicked.

"Listen to me-" she started.

"No! This is _my_ facility! Everything is under _my_ control! And _you_ -" he looked up at the mute woman who continued to haunt him.

The _mute_ woman.

"You aren't Chell," he set his jaw and glared up at the imposing woman standing above him.

"Well, I'll hand it to you, boy. You aren't a _complete_ idiot after all," Chell's image faded away to reveal a strikingly tall Asian woman instead. She leaned down to him and tried to back away.

"Get away from me, get away from me, get _away_ -" Wheatley moaned and grabbed his head as he tried to activate defense mechanisms in the room, to little avail.

She made a _tsk_ sound at him and grabbed him by the chin, ignoring the small pathetic shocks he gave her in response. "Listen, boy. I wouldn't call myself a doctor here, but I'm going to prescribe you something for your head."

"It's called sleep." He whimpered as she grabbed him roughly by the shoulders and slammed him into the ground. His vision blacked out and he cried out as his tenuous hold on the mainframe finally gave way.

And then there was blissful nothingness.

* * *

Chell grasped the catwalk railing for dear life as it shook mercilessly, threatening to vault her over the side. The metal shrieked under the pressure and she squeezed her eyes shut.

 _I'll be okay. I'll be okay. I'll be okay-_

After what felt like hours, the shaking ceased and she slowly opened her eyes. The catwalk miraculously had stayed intact and she wasn't plummeting to her death. She shook as her nerves tried to relax and she gasped with relief.

Virgil came barreling out of the infirmary, fear written plainly on his face. "Oh, goodness, Chell. You're okay," he placed his hands on his knees and breathed in deeply. "Here, let me help you up," he extended his hand and lifted her up effortlessly.

 _'Is Glados...?'_

"She's fine," he waved his hand and the worry lines returned as he looked down the catwalk toward their main 'home' area. "But I'm going to go check on the others. That's the worst quake we've felt yet." He gave her a worried look and took off down the catwalk.

Glados peeped out of the infirmary, uncertainty written on her features.

 _'What do you think you're doing?'_ Chell narrowed her eyes at the other woman.

" _Pft_ , leaving this wretched infirmary. Are you really going to bother stopping me while your other cavemen friends are in potential danger?" Glados raised an infuriating eyebrow and Chell had to work to cool her own temper.

 _'If there's another quake then you'll be safer in the infirmary,'_ Chell said pointedly and started to walk briskly down the catwalk after Virgil.

"Yes, well, where's the fun in _that_?" she heard Glados call out after her.

* * *

Craig let a hiss escape through his teeth as the large cement block pinning his left arm down shifted slightly.

"Hubble...?" Big Dipper's orange frightened eyes looked up into his with concern.

"It's fine, Charlie. Relax... they're going to get us out of this," Craig repeated his mantra to Big Dipper again. They were going to be okay.

Big Dipper, himself, and Ray had been in the kitchen preparing a meal for everyone when the place had started to shake apart. The three had found themselves under tons of crumbling cement blocks and screeching metal within seconds, their quick thinking and deviations the only things saving them from a crushing death.

Craig had opened a pocket dimension for Ray to jump into, since Ray had no need to breath for a decently-long period of time. Big Dipper used his Deviation to the full by keeping the crushing weight above them as light as he could... but he could only extend that power so far. The boy was maxed to his limit and it concerned Craig immensely.

Craig himself used his own human strength to keep the crumbling rock from crushing the both of them. The two had exhausted their power and were hoping the others could get them out of this predicament.

Charlie's head fell against Craig's side and the tons of rock above him started to feel a bit heavier.

"Big Dipper, hey, do you want to hear some interesting space facts?" Craig grasped to get Charlie's full attention. Get him to concentrate on keeping his power up or they would be crushed. Get the boy talking.

Big Dipper sniffed, "No... you don't know anything about space, Helios," he hugged Craig harder and the rubble felt a bit lighter again, "But I'll tell you some facts so you can learn something new, okay?"

"Okay... that sounds good," Craig breathed a sigh of relief.

* * *

 _'What's going on over here?'_ Chell came running up to the group of men surrounding a collapsed facility and arguing loudly to each other.

Rick looked pained, "Charlie, Ray, and Craig are still in there. I tried to dig them out, but it started to collapse further... we don't know what to do."

Rick looked guilty, Chuck seemed frustrated, Hugo was unreadable, and Virgil was kicking himself. "Alright, I'm going in to check on them. I'll be right back," Virgil announced and disappeared through the rubble.

 _'Can he pull them out?'_ Chell asked the others.

"If he grabs one of them at a time, maybe. His power has limits too," Hugo replied airily.

Rick's expression darkened and Chuck started to whistle nervously as Chell heard light footsteps behind her.

 _'I told you not to come out here,'_ Chell warned Glados. She gave Rick a silent look not to try anything. It wasn't the time.

Glados smiled slyly, "Well, you should be glad I did. If there's one thing I _am_ good at, it's puzzles," she gestured to the collapsing building.

Rick couldn't help it, "This isn't a _puzzle_. There are people's lives at risk here. Not that _you_ -"

"Hey, watch it, Adventure Man! This is _my_ fight to pick, not yours," Hugo broke in and shoved Rick aside, "Oh, you have no idea how long I've waited to wring your-"

 _'Enough! Hugo, you aren't intimidating at all, so stop trying to be. Rick, push your vendetta out of your mind for two seconds while we figure out how to save our friends. Got it?'_ Chell barked authoritatively in their heads.

Both men winced and nodded grudgingly.

 _'And you,'_ Chell turned to Glados' smug face, _'You should go back right now. You aren't helping anything.'_

Glados' mouth twitched in irritation, but she made no move to follow Chell's orders. Chell was going to say more when Virgil walked out toward them, his expression grim.

"Well, the good news is they're all still alive. Ray is safely tucked away in one of Craig's pocket dimensions while Charlie and Craig are using their own power to keep the building from completely collapsing on them. The bad news is if I pull one of them out, the other will be crushed. I... can't grab both of them. I'm sorry," he ran his hands through his hair, the stress plain on his face.

"You're saying we have to _sacrifice_ one of them? Virgil, how-" Rick exploded.

"No! I'm not saying that! I don't know what to do, but we'll figure it out, okay? We just need to be quick about it is all," Virgil paced back and forth.

Chell did a quick count in her head: Rick was incredibly strong, but his Deviation was only making things worse. Hugo was useless. Chuck was also pretty useless. Virgil could save one person, and considering Craig was the one keeping Ray alive, it was pretty obvious who it would be. Glados was of no help... and neither was she. She just hoped-

"I would give you my calculations, but I'm going to assume you all know what needs to be done here. Since the 'pocket dimension' Deviant is the one keeping the other boy alive, that's the one who you need to rescue," Glados piped in unnecessarily.

Chell cringed as the others all exploded at the same time, ready to take their frustrations out on the other woman.

"How can you say that you heartless piece of-"

"It should be _you_ under there-"

 _'Stop! STOP!'_ Chell screamed in their minds, causing everyone to grab their heads in pain. She whirled on Glados, pointing in her face, _'We are saving all of them! Not one. Not TWO. But all of them! We just-'_ She gripped the catwalk's railing in frustration.

 _'-Need to CALM DOWN!'_ and with a burst of pent-up energy she ripped the railing straight off the catwalk.

There was a collective gasp, including Chell's own as she dropped the piece of railing in fear, and it dangled precariously from the catwalk.

 _'That was broken, right? I didn't actually-'_

"You did. You totally ripped that railing straight off. The _metal_ railing, Chell!" Rick gasped with excitement.

To prove him wrong, Hugo walked over to the other side of the railing and proceeded to try and tear it off, to no avail. "It must have come loose during the quake... that's the only explanation."

"I don't think so," Glados cut in, her eyes dancing with scientific curiosity. "I'm processing a theory right now. Chell, try it again."

 _'This is stupid. It was a fluke,'_ but she obediently did as Glados instructed and attempted to rip another piece of railing off.

Glados pointed to Rick, "You. Try it."

Rick shrugged and ripped the rest of the railing off with ease. "It's my Deviation. Easy."

"So it is... Now Chell, try again," Glados pointed to Chell.

 _'We're wasting time-'_

"No. Try it again."

 _'I said-'_

" _Try_ again, Chell," Glados punctuated.

Chell let out a strangled noise in her mind, _'I TOLD you, this is-'_ she gripped the other side of the catwalk and tore the railing off with the ease of ripping paper. _'Ridiculous...?'_

Chell spun on Glados, _'What's going on here? I don't understand...'_ anxiety dripped from her voice.

Glados grinned, "I knew it. Your Deviation isn't telepathy, Chell. Your Deviation is a Copy-Cat power. You copy other Deviants in whom you've come in contact."

Everyone's mouths dropped in shock and the railing with it.

 _'A... Copy-Cat power? But... that doesn't make sense! I haven't copied anyone else's Deviations. Not yours... Wheatley's... and it doesn't explain where I developed my telepathy,'_ Chell rambled.

Glados held up her hands, "I can't prove anything, but I've got a good hunch. I think you can only copy certain types of Deviations, which is why you don't have mine or the Moron's. I also believe it's only activated when you are under duress, like now. You may be able to improve it with time though... as for the telepathy, you may have simply come into contact with it at any point in your life. I can't really say. But it's all so fascinating! Don't you realize the potential here?" Her energy was palpable.

Chell silently pulled herself together. She could freak out later. _'Okay, fine. If you are right, and I'm not saying you are... how does this help them right now?_ ' She nodded to the collapsing pile of rubble.

Glados shuffled her feet, "Simple. Grab Virgil's hand and see if you can copy his Deviation. If you both use the same power to go in, you can each grab one of your trapped friends."

Virgil's eyes narrowed, "That's a big if. If she can't control my ability correctly then she's only putting herself in danger... I can't allow that," he folded his arms.

Chell looked to him and set her jaw, _'I'll try it. If there's a way to get them all out of there then I'm willing to try.'_ She held out her hand to him with a pleading look.

Virgil grimaced and looked away, sighing, "Fine. But if this goes awry..." he shot Glados a look and she flinched uncharacteristically.

Chell gripped his hand for five seconds in total and then pulled away. _'I didn't feel anything...'_

Glados scoffed, "Did you feel anything before? Relax and focus on phasing out your molecules."

When Chell repeatedly attempted to run her hand through the rubble and nothing happened, Rick spoke up, "Just try to focus on being a ghost! You can do it, Chell!"

"It's possible she can't even copy Virgil's power..." Chuck spoke up worriedly.

" _Pfft_ , it's possible that Glados is full of it and Chell can't do anything at all-" Hugo doubled-over when Rick elbowed him in the stomach.

 _'Polaris? Polaris, is that you?'_ Chell's stomach knotted when she heard Big Dipper's voice invade her thoughts.

Polaris... the Guiding Star.

 _'Charlie! Charlie, I'm coming! Don't give up, okay? I'm coming to get you!'_ Chell took off running through the rubble without a second thought, her body gliding through solid matter as if it was nothing.

A piece of Chell's mind began to freak out, but she pushed it down. _Grab Charlie and run. Grab Charlie and run. Grab-_

Virgil appeared next to her as she made it to where the two were trapped and he gave her a reassuring grin. "Just do what I do," he spoke softly.

The next thing she knew she was on the ground gasping for air and Charlie, Craig, and Virgil all next to her doing the same.

She felt someone lift her into a suffocating hug and she grinned, _'I did it... I copied his Deviation...'_

"That was so incredible, Chell! You're a crazy one-of-a-kind lady!" Rick spun her triumphantly.

She slumped tiredly against what was left of the railing and watched as they escorted an exhausted Craig and Charlie to the infirmary. _'Hey, don't forget to free Ray!'_ she called out after them.

Craig cracked a smile and gave her a tired thumbs up with his good arm in response.

Then she was alone with Glados.

"Overwhelming...?" Glados asked the slumped-over Chell.

The question startled her. _'I suppose... I'm trying to wrap my head around the idea.'_

"All the possibilities," Glados agreed.

 _'This doesn't mean I'm letting you run any tests on me,'_ Chell growled.

Glados scowled, "I never said that."

Chell leaned forward and placed her head between her knees, _'I know... I'm sorry. You were only trying to help. So... thank you, by the way. If it wasn't for you, I don't know what would have happened.'_ The apology felt awkward.

"Well," Glados sniffed, "If it weren't for you the plan wouldn't have worked. I was admittedly grasping at straws. It was... largely a lucky guess," she turned and grinned at Chell. A rare sight indeed.

Chell snickered, _'Whatever, Glados. If anything good came of this, it's that you may have won the trust of those "cavemen". You should be pleased.'_

"Hmph, as if I care what those heathens think of me," she muttered.

 _'You should. You know, people aren't all that bad once you get to know them. Yes, people can change you for the worse if you let them. But it works the other way around...'_

 _'People can change you for the better.'_

* * *

 _Hey, guys! In order to celebrate Harry Callaghan's release of Meet the Cores 3 yesterday I decided to make the time to write up a new chapter for y'all. Also, it's a thank you for all of your patience with me. I know updates aren't as regular as they started out... so I appreciate your support! I also know I don't always respond to everyone's reviews, so I apologize. I usually try to get back with you, but when a certain amount of time goes by then I just feel weird responding later... haha. Sorry! But I so appreciate all your feedback, be it good or bad. :)_

 _Anyway, the story's coming along. Albeit, little by little... We're getting there! (And y'all probably thought I was being unimaginative by giving Doug and Chell the same Deviation, right...? ;) mwahaha). Enjoy the chapter and have a wonderful weekend!_

 _-Moe_


	26. Chapter 26

Doug Rattmann was astounded.

Had it really been so simple?

After four years of being trapped in Aperture under the terrifying reign of its self-proclaimed queen, he was free to go.

He glanced at the boy, Wheatley, currently unconscious and tied to a defunct rocket turret. "So... where is... how do we..." Doug stuttered.

Lira sat on Glados/Wheatley's wire-infused throne and gave him a tight smile, "Patience. I need to be sure the reactor is functioning properly or else it won't matter if we escape or not. We don't want to be blown up as soon as we reach level ground, do we?"

He jolted as Lira shifted her body to become a clone of Wheatley. Right... she needed to use his deviation... such a strange power.

Speaking of her power...

"By the way, how were you able to mimic Chell's body? I thought you had to have had physical contact with a person to be able to do that," Doug inquired.

Lira waved him off, already accessing holograms of data through Wheatley's deviation. "Simple: I wasn't mimicking her. I had shifted into a young man I encountered maybe a decade ago with a deviation that could produce illusions. I used his deviation to pretend to be Chell. Easy. It's one of the more useful body-prints I possess..."

Simple. Right.

"I can see why the English boy was so enthralled with his access to the mainframe. The information dancing in your head... the feeling of power encompassing all your thoughts. It's quite alluring," Lira intoned.

Doug's shoulders tensed, "You're not going to-"

She snickered and looked him in the eye, "Relax, I'm not an idiot like _him_. I have quite a lot more self-control than that. In fact, I am shutting down the instability in the reactor as we speak."

The room brightened considerably and Lira switched off the holograms, turning back into herself, "Besides, this kind of power just doesn't suit me."

"It's finished then? We can finally leave-"

Lira's eyes shifted sideways and she bit her lip, "Well..."

Desperation welled up in his mind and he fell to his knees in a begging position, "Please, please, please... can't we leave? I just want to get out of here..." he groveled pathetically.

"Get off the floor, Douglas Rattmann!" Lira snapped, "Pull yourself together. You've worked here for decades and have been trapped down here for four years. You can stand to wait a couple days more," her voice went monotone. Cold as ice.

"But..." he chided himself for his childish whining, "Why do we need to stay any longer? What could you possibly want?" Nightmarish scenarios flashed through his mind and he started to involuntarily shake.

"When I was shutting down the reactor I rifled around and came across new information. Intriguing information..."

She lifted his chin up and looked him straight in the eyes, "I'm going to do what I was sent here to do."

"I'm going to finish my assignment."

* * *

"I can't believe none of you knows what a phonograph is," Virgil muttered under his breath, rifling through a stack of records. They were practically ancient.

After the kitchen-collapse incident, everyone had gathered in their make-shift entertainment room for a night of celebration. They were all lucky to be alive, after all!

Virgil had sneaked down into Cave Johnson's old office and hoisted the phonograph to the entertainment room along with a stack of records.

"Alright, let's see what we have here... Elvis Presley. Classic. The Beatles! Wow... I haven't heard them in a long time. Hmm... some jazz music, swing dancing... we've got quite a bit to choose from here," Virgil was enthusiastically digging through the records.

Chuck pulled out a record from its sleeve and examined it dubiously, "Uh, so how is music supposed to come out of this flat black doughnut?"

"'Doughnut'? Seriously?" Ray raised an eyebrow, examining another record for himself. "But yeah, man. It's just a piece of plastic. How is this going to work...?"

Virgil snatched the record back, "You see, there are these grooves in the record that the phonograph-"

"Booooring, just show us how it works already!" Rick jumped in, grabbing a record at random. He stuffed it into the bell of the phonograph triumphantly, "There! Now how do you turn it on?"

Glados huffed, "That's not how it works you _moron_." She reached out to free the trapped record and Rick lightly smacked her hands away.

"No way. We're only letting you come in here tonight because of your help earlier, but it was under the condition that you not _touch_ anything. So no touching!" Rick yanked the record out and it proceeded to shatter under his grip. "Oh. Oops."

Glados rolled her eyes, keeping her thoughts to herself. There was no mistaking what was racing through her mind, though.

Virgil stepped in, "Okay, okay. None of you are to touch any of this... just let me handle it." He slipped a record onto the player in the correct fashion and dropped the needle onto it. "Here, you all might like this one. I'm going to teach you a dance that was popular in my time," he grinned.

 _"Come on baby, let's do the twist"_

"What's up with the terrible sound quality?" Hugo broke in, sitting cross-legged on the couch and determined not to have any fun. Craig and Big Dipper sat beside him, both exhausted from their earlier ordeal.

 _"Take me by my little hand"_

 _"And go like this"_

"This was before the age of digital music, gentlemen! This was normal back then... trust me, you all missed out on some grand times," Virgil flourished and began to shuffle his feet back and forth, twisting his body comically in the middle of the room.

 _"Yeah, twist, baby, baby twist"_

"Come on! You all need to join me. It's quite easy," Virgil beckoned the confounded bystanders.

 _"Ooh yeah, just like this"_

"You look like a doofus!" Ray guffawed. The rest stared at Virgil dancing alone in complete disbelief.

"I told you, this was all the rage with the kids back then! The adults all thought this was the devil's music. Come on, it's fun!" Virgil yanked Ray into the middle of the room, much to the boy's discomfort. He continued to demonstrate, "Look, move like this. Easy peasy."

 _"We're gonna twisty, twisty, twisty"_

 _"Til' we tear the house down"_

Ray folded his arms stubbornly, "No! Not until Rick comes in here and does it with me! I refuse to look like a doofus alone," he shook his head.

"Oh, absolutely no-" Rick was suddenly thrust into the middle of the room by a grinning Chell.

Their faces red, they all started to twist with Virgil.

"Oh, mercy me..." groaned Ray, trying to keep a smile off his face.

 _"Come on, little miss"_

Virgil stuck out his hand to an emotionless Glados, watching from the corner.

 _"And do the twist, yeeeaahhh"_

"Um, thanks, but no," Glados backed up against the wall in fear.

Too late.

Chell yanked Glados into the newly formed dance floor and spun her around with a gleefully evil expression.

"Ugh, I hate you!" Glados' face reddened and she stepped back from the chaotic mess of people.

"Hey, you can blame it all on me," Virgil grabbed her hands and forced her to stay in the group, twisting her along with them. "Lift up your injured leg and twist on the other... I've got you."

 _"You should see myyyy, my little sis"_

Glados grimaced, "This is mortifying."

"Dancing usually is," Virgil smirked, twirling Glados as gently as he could.

 _"She really knows how to rock"_

 _"She knows how to twist"_

Big Dipper shrieked with glee and jumped into the twisting fray to join Chell, forgetting his earlier exhaustion.

Craig gave the boy a smile and thumbs up, but opted to stay on the couch in lieu of embarrassing himself. Next to him Hugo muttered incoherently to himself and melted into the couch with an irritable look on his face. Pretty normal.

 _"Yeah, that's all rock"_

 _"Twist on now, twist"_

* * *

"You really think that's she's still alive?" Doug asked incredulously.

"They were both wearing Aperture brand long-fall boots when they fell. I'm not counting out the possibility that they could have survived," Lira responded, fitting herself with a pair of black long-fall boots. Probably one of Glados' pairs.

She gave him a reassuring smile, "If they're dead then I'll find their bodies somewhere down there, and if so then we'll leave. I promise."

Doug gulped, "If you're sure... but... be careful, okay?"

"Just make sure the English boy stays put, alright? I'll be back before you know it," and Lira hopped into an elevator and disappeared downwards, out of sight.

Douglas Rattmann sat on the empty throne and gazed at the photograph of a woman displayed on the holo-screen. "Who exactly were you, Caroline Short? And why does Lira need _Glados_...?" he muttered to himself.

Lira maintained that Glados was the key to the redacted information that she was after, and all of it had something to do with the woman on the screen. Doug knew nothing about it, but he chose to trust her judgment.

 _And if Chell proves to be alive then I'll feel so much better about all of this._

He shivered. He couldn't remember the last time he had been left alone. After all, the past four years he had had his beautiful companion cube along to keep him company. Now she had abandoned him too.

No, no... she was coming back. She was too capable to die down there. He just had to wait it out.

 _Wait it out._

 _Wait it out._

He rocked back and forth. Hopefully he would last that long...

* * *

 _42 Hours Later-_

Lira had severely underestimated the sheer size of lower Aperture. She had known it was large, but... wow.

After searching for Chell and Glados' bodies for hours, she had given up and decided that the two had survived the fall. Amazing.

Following her instincts, Lira ended up in Cave Johnson's last facility before moving into Upper Aperture. She hit the jack-pot and found Caroline Short's old laboratory, but was alarmed to see it had recently been used.

By whom?

It had to have been Glados or Chell. Maybe the two were working together...

After ransacking the lab and not finding any information that she was looking for, she hid. And waited. With the amount of use the laboratory had, someone would be coming back at some point. Should she look for them instead?

Lira jumped and chided herself quickly as the door to the lab slid open, a tall figure silhouetting against the hallway outside. The generators kicked in and the laboratory grew lighter, so she squinted from her hiding spot to get a better look at the intruder. Not Chell. Not Glados. Interesting...

She shifted silently into Douglas, utilizing his telepathic abilities.

The man's name was Lee Virgil... and there were others with him. That genuinely surprised her. She hadn't expected to run into other people down in Lower Aperture... what an incredible bunch.

She scanned him for more information and was rewarded with the knowledge that he had Glados and Chell under his care. Perfect. She was delighted that her quarry was still alive, however, it would be difficult to get the girl to go with her without the others noticing.

 _How should I go about doing this...?_

An idea. It would take some finessing on her part, but finesse she could do.

* * *

Virgil needed some alone time to think. There had been another argument between them all when Rick had decided to voice his opinion on returning to the surface again. Big Dipper had started yelling about going into space while Craig had started listing his 100 or so facts on why Lower Aperture was a better place to live. Glados had cut in about taking back what was rightfully hers, which led to a whole other series of arguments.

Ugh... he definitely needed time alone. The others looked to him and Rick as some kind of leaders, but to see them arguing was tearing everyone apart. He hated it.

He felt distinctly uncomfortable in Cave's old office, but he often liked to settle down in Caroline's lab. They were two homes to him with two different sets of memories. And of course, the others knew nothing about them.

 _'I'm Mel...'_

 _'I already know that...'_

 _'_ _Dummy, what's your name? If I'm going to trust you, I need to know your name...'_

 _'Oh, I'm Virgil.'_

Virgil startled and sat down heavily on the lone chair, shaking his head.

Why had he been thinking about Mel...?

That memory had felt unnervingly real.

 _'Stay out of the spotlight, eh, Mel?'_

"Alright, who's there?" he growled and stood up, trying to quell his nerves. Someone was there. "Come on, show yourself. It's not funny-"

"But you told me to stay out of the spotlight," a voice spoke up softly from behind him.

He jumped and spun around, facing the intruder head on. It was-

It was...

" _Mel_...?" he squeaked.

She was standing before him, red curls, freckled face, ugly Aperture jumpsuit and all. He sucked in a breath and stepped backwards, his mind willing his body to cooperate. _She's not here. Something's wrong._

"Look, I know how ridiculous this is going to sound, and I'm sorry it took so long... but I'm here. After one-hundred years we're finally together again," she stepped up to him, reaching to touch his shocked face.

He grabbed her hand fearfully, "No, no, no... that's not... that isn't how this works," he stuttered. It was unlike him to let his emotions reign in control.

She looked hurt, but swallowed it down, "I'm sorry. I should explain first, I know. But I was just so excited to see you again that I... well. Anyway, when I found out that you had gone missing after freeing me I decided to infiltrate Aperture and look for you. But I was caught and put into a stasis pod as well. The earthquake a couple days ago reactivated my pod and let me go... so, here I am," she grinned at him.

It was the same cheeky grin that he remembered, but...

"That's... a stroke of luck, isn't it?" he kept his guard up. However, was it completely outside reality...? Could it possibly be? He felt trapped.

She pouted and got on her tiptoes to reach him, her face awfully close to his, "You know, I gave up a lot to get here. I mean... don't you _want_ this?" her voice dropped to a whisper.

Her lime green eyes gazed into his and their lips brushed-

"Gah!" Virgil reflexively shoved her backward, knocking her into the chair with a crash. He leaned against the counter and choked back a sob, willing himself to pull it together. "Sorry, I'm sorry... but I don't... I don't believe you," he gasped between words.

Mel glowered at him and wiped blood off a cut from her forehead. To Virgil's astonishment, the cut healed itself within seconds. "No matter, it was worth a shot. You have an interesting history, Mister Virgil," she grinned coldly.

"If you cooperate, then no harm will come to your friends. I only have use for Glados. Bring her here and the rest of you are free to go," she lifted her empty palms, "No tricks."

"Who are you? And why should I bring you Glados?" Virgil was out of sorts, confused by Mel's facade on this unknown person. "And why do you look like Mel...?

"Tsk, tsk. So many questions. That isn't part of the deal, as you have nothing to do with my mission. Bring Glados here and leave. That's my only offer," her eyes flashed.

Virgil stood taller in defiance, "No, she's under my protection."

The woman-who-was-not-Mel sighed and looked away, "Ah well, then you will prove to be invaluable to me in a different way."

She vaulted herself at him with inhuman speed and knocked him to the ground. He phased out of her grip and swallowed his panic _. What's wrong with you? You know it's not actually Mel you idiot!_

Get to the others; this woman couldn't take them all on at once, surely.

He bolted through the wall using his deviation and skidded down the hallway. Then she was in front of him again, a terrifying grin on her face.

"You think you can _outrun_ me, boy?"

"It doesn't matter because you can't catch me anyw-" Virgil yelped as he was body-slammed and fell through the floor.

 _How, how, how is this-_

He deactivated his power and slammed painfully onto a catwalk, groaning as his vision swam with spots. Strong hands lifted him up and he found himself face to face with... himself?

He coughed, "What...?"

His clone smirked, "You think that you're invincible with this phasing deviation of yours. I bet it never occurred to you that your own power could be your undoing," the clone dropped him on his back, eliciting another groan, "A person out of phase can only affect another person out of phase, isn't that right?"

Clever.

"So..." Virgil pulled himself onto his elbows, calculating an escape route, "You can mimic other people along with their deviations? That doesn't seem very fair..."

She/he slammed him against the grating, disorienting him and keeping him from escaping. They then shifted into a blonde boy's form and smiled sweetly at him, "I do apologize for the heavy hand, but you should have cooperated with me better."

There was a hand on his chest and a painful electric jolt and Virgil blacked out.

* * *

 _Hi guys! I'm so sorry... It's been like a whole month since the last chapter, and you'll probably have to wait another one for the next. Gah, I'm just super busy right now and I'm about to leave for two weeks (kinda vacation but kinda not... haha). I was also reading through some of my other author's notes and I cringed pretty hard at the first chapter's, lol. I sound like such a jerk... my bad. I didn't mean to appear like that, but I'm really not. I promise. I'll probably go back and revise it someday, but it's kinda long. o_O_

 _Hm, anyway. Some notes... Doug's not actually schizophrenic, but after going through what he's gone through he's pretty mentally weak. Sorry about the phonograph scene... I think it was something easier to picture in my head than to write, haha. The song is "The Twist" by Chubby Checker. Weird, but fun. :)_

 _Thanks again to all of you supporting my story! I so love reading your comments and reviews (and fanart, eeeeee!). It keeps me in the writing mood, even when I don't have the time to devote to it. Thanks so much! I'll hopefully be back soon and the rest of you have a wonderful week!_

 _-Moe  
_


	27. Chapter 27

Lira cursed her slight frame and pathetic muscular anatomy as she staggered her way back to Upper Aperture under Virgil's dead weight. She could think of a few different faces from her past that she could shift into to make the load lighter, but her body was tired from the constant transformations.

 _Not that this is any better... you're heavier than you look, Lee Virgil._

After an hour her body felt much better, so she shifted into a huge, muscular bouncer she had affectionately dubbed 'Brutus'. She wasn't quite sure what his real name was, but it wasn't really of any importance. Transforming into a being of such size was more painful than usual, but the literal load off her own shoulders made it worth it.

Lira relished the horrified look on Doug Rattmann's face as she resurfaced into the chamber as a large beast of a man carrying a smaller man like a rag-doll. She dropped Virgil unceremoniously to the floor and quickly shifted back into herself, groaning as she fell on all fours.

Doug seemed to snap out of his stupor and grabbed her by the shoulders, "You're back! A-are you alright? What is-"

She cracked her neck loudly, "Douglas, give me a little space for a moment," she gestured to Virgil, "And get him secured with the English one."

Doug faltered, "Who-who is _he_? Did you find any sign of Chell or-"

Lira hissed under her breath, "I _said_ give me a moment," her eyes flashed sharply and Doug closed his mouth tightly in response.

Lira glanced around the empty chamber, "Where _is_ the English boy by the way?"

Her voice grew deep with warning and Doug flinched despite himself, "I-I... he was... _talking_."

"'Talking'?"

He reached for a control on the wire throne and pressed it hurriedly, resulting in a large glass box with a metal floor being lowered from the ceiling toward them.

"He... he just kept talking... and complaining. I was afraid I'd let him go but I didn't want to upset you so I put him in a boxandI'msorryIwastryinghe'sstillthereand-" Rattmann started to hyperventilate.

Lira sighed and rubbed circles around her temples, "Alright, I've got the picture. It's fine, Douglas. You did well," she got to her feet and examined the glass cage.

Wheatley was no longer handcuffed to a rocket turret, but his hands were still bound in anti-Deviant cuffs. He sat on simple cot, refusing to look Lira in the eyes, but glared daggers at the toilet in the corner instead.

Lira grinned, "Knock-knock. Make some room in there; you've got company." Wheatley only sneered in response.

Doug snapped a pair of anti-Deviant cuffs on Virgil, who had begun to stir. He then hoisted the skinnier man up and tossed him through the glass door Lira had opened up on the cage.

Wheatley side-eyed the prone figure on the ground, "What do you need _us_ for?"

Lira tapped absently on the glass, "'Need'? I don't need _you_ for anything. I could always wake up other sleeping test subjects instead, but that would be tedious. And him-" she pointed at Virgil, "I need _him_ as bait. So as a word of warning..." her eyes grew stone-cold and she gripped Wheatley with her gaze, "Behave. I don't _have_ to keep you around for anything. Understand?"

Wheatley swallowed and sucked in his cheeks, his mouth a thin line.

Satisfied that she had completed her first task, Lira clapped her hands and turned to Doug with a smile, "Now, would you like to know what I found down there?"

Doug nodded sheepishly.

So she told him.

* * *

 _Five hours later-_

Glados tiptoed around the sleeping bodies sprawled across the room, now sure that each and every one of them was sound asleep.

 _A sleepover... how churlish._

They hadn't necessarily meant to have a giant sleepover in the entertainment room, but apparently the silent movies had bored them. Glados had tried to escape, but had failed when Chell wouldn't let Glados out of their sights. Virgil had been able to leave, so why couldn't she?

Glados stifled a yawn and headed toward the infirmary in order to get more peaceful rest uninterrupted by Chuck's world-shaking snores and Ray's freakish sleep giggling.

She had just sat at Virgil's desk to snoop around when she heard footsteps in the doorway.

"Europa...? What're you doin'...?" Big Dipper rubbed his eyes tiredly, giving her a doubtful look.

Her hand paused midair before she could reach into Virgil's desk and she slyly closed the drawer and turned to Big Dipper in one motion. "Well, I'm just-" she paused and frowned slightly, "What did you call me?"

Big Dipper brightened, " _Europa_. It's your space name," he said matter-of-factly.

Despite herself, she was intrigued and felt her heart lighten in a fashion she was unfamiliar with, "Why so?"

He grinned, "Because it's covered in ice!"

Her chest tightened and she bit her lip. _Of course, how stupid..._

Big Dipper seemed to notice his verbal blunder and sat on the cot across from her, speaking more maturely and reassuredly, "I, I mean... Europa is a moon that's covered in miles and miles of pure ice. But under the ice is a huge ocean that could hold anything!" He smiled and kicked his legs back and forth, "There could be all kinds of cool sea creatures and aliens! It's a moon that's cold on the outside, but is teeming with possibilities on the inside. It's... one of my favorites," his big orange eyes blinked at her hopefully.

After a moment of silence he spoke up again, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that... I can change it if you want-"

"No, no," she hoped her smile appeared genuine, "I actually like it. Thank you, Charlie."

"It's-"

" _Big Dipper_ , my apologies," she smirked, "Now what was it you followed me here for?"

He suddenly looked sheepish, "Um, I wanted some medicine 'cause my head hurts, but it's okay..."

Glados rifled through the shockingly well-stocked medicine cabinet and produced a pain killer, "Here you go, take this and go back to sleep."

He stopped on his way out the door, "It's okay, I know you're not all mean, like the others said. I like you much better than Helios! Um, goodnight..." and he was gone.

Better than Hugo, huh? Well, she supposed it was a step forward in the right direction.

"I didn't expect to find you in here," a voice piped up, interrupting her thoughts.

She glanced at the doorway, "And where exactly did you 'expect' me to be? Sleeping on a mountain of blankets all cozy-like with those heathens?" She sniffed.

Virgil shrugged, "No, I suppose not. But you running off on your own while no one's watching is bound to cause some additional trust issues."

Glados stiffened, "So I _am_ a prisoner after all."

He shut the door and sat where Big Dipper had been a few minutes prior. "If you choose to see it that way. Let me ask you a question," he leaned forward.

"Would you go back to what you had before?"

Glados wrinkled her nose in confusion, "Excuse me?"

"You know... the omnipotent control over Aperture Laboratories, the ever-present blanket of silence with no humans to bother you, the-"

"I get the picture," she snapped, "Why are you asking me this?" She was a bit alarmed by Virgil's sudden change in behavior.

"Answer the question: Do you want that? Or have you changed your mind about people...? Do you like having us around or would you turn on us with a-" he snapped his fingers loudly in her face, "-snap of the fingers."

Glados flinched and gripped the armrests of the chair in order to avoid decking him. Her expression hardened, "Of course I hate all of you. I would take back what was mine in a _second_ ," she spoke. The words didn't feel right. Forced.

Virgil noticed, amused, "So you hate me, after all?" His eyebrow raised and he smirked.

" _Yes!_ " Glados jumped to her feet with a shriek, "Why are you trying so hard for me to admit it? I _thought_ -"

He kneed her in the stomach and she fell back against the chair and crashed to the ground, the air knocked out of her.

Glados coughed, unable to cover her shock. "Wha-?"

He lifted her by the collar, "I don't believe you."

She struggled in his grip, "What's... what's wrong with you...?" she gasped. This was wrong. Something was wrong.

"You aren't as good at hiding your emotions as you might think. You _do_ care about them and you care about him," Virgil dropped her and she backed against the desk, trying to quell the sudden rush of adrenaline.

"' _Him_ '?"

She stifled a yelp as Virgil suddenly _changed_ , shifting into a tall Asian female who loomed over her with a calculating, cruel face.

Glados felt a stab in her chest, _Is that what I look like to them...?_

Her breathing quickened and she scanned the room, looking for something to defend herself with. This woman was not to be trusted.

Obviously.

"What did you do to Virgil?"

"He's safe, and he will remain that way while you follow my instructions," the woman replied coolly.

Glados folded her arms and scoffed, "I'm _not_ following your instructions... I don't even know who you are."

The woman briefly lost her composure, grabbing Glados by a fistful of hair, and hissed, "You don't know who I _am_...?"

Glados struggled to free her hair out of the woman's grip, but remained silent nonetheless.

"I'm _Lira Nakajima_. A test subject _you_ shoved in a metal _cube_ ," the woman tightened her grip and yanked, causing Glados to wince.

"A-a cube? I wasn't-"

" _Silence_ , I don't want to hear any words out of you except 'Yes Ma'am', or Virgil will suffer before he dies, understand?" Nakajima's voice dripped with ice and Glados simply blinked.

"What makes you think I care about what happens to him?"

Nakajima smirked, "Didn't we just go over this? Of course you care... you obviously care about all the sewer trash that live down here. But Virgil is connected to you more deeply than you realize... I'm sure you noticed that by now, right?"

Glados pulled a face, "Not that it's any of your business, but I don't have any special feelings for-"

" _Not_ what I meant and you know it," Nakajima dropped Glados and Glados rubbed her head ruefully.

"Listen," Nakajima crouched down to where Glados sat pressed against the desk, "I need you to obtain information for me in Upper Aperture, and after that task is done you and Virgil will be free to go. You can take control of your precious mainframe again, the rest of the sewer trash will stay down here out of your hair, and you can do whatever you please to the Englishman who stole everything from you. Does that sound like such a bad deal?"

Glados had to admit, it didn't sound all that bad, but...

"Why do I have to leave the others down here? I'm not all that keen on leaving them unattended to wreak havoc on Lower Aperture... it still belongs to me," Glados smirked.

Lira sighed, as if talking to a stupid child, "Now, now... I'm sure you realize that the others wouldn't stand for this. They would get in my way, and I am not allowing that to happen. You _will_ follow my directions entirely and no one has to get hurt," she smiled, "I have instructions to have something bad happen to your friend if you try anything funny. But I promise you, it will all be over before you know it."

Glados shifted, processing the information rapidly. It wasn't an entirely bad deal, but she felt... guilty. Was she really to leave Chell and the others behind? Virgil would hate her for it.

"They'll follow me," Glados spoke up. "If I disappear they'll search everywhere for me... and for that matter, they're bound to realize that Virgil has gone missing eventually."

Nakajima whistled, "You really aren't as bright as I thought you would be, Glados. You and I are going to make sure they can't follow you and they won't even want to _try_ ," she flashed a terrifying grin.

Glados tried her best to keep her face expressionless as Nakajima told her what they were going to do next.

* * *

Chell irritably covered her face with the nearest blanket as the lights switched on, Virgil chanting, "Rise and shine, everyone! Get up, get up, get up!" he was clapping his hands obnoxiously and she heard muttered swears and groans around the room.

"Mercy me, what's your deal?" Ray growled, tossing a pillow toward Virgil in the door frame.

"We're getting out of here, everybody!"

At this Rick practically flew out of bed, stetson magically already on his head, "What did you say?" he sounded hopeful.

Virgil flashed a grin at the dazed sleepers, "Glados and I have constructed a plan. We're leaving today! This is the day, everybody!" he was all cheer, but completely serious.

"Wha-what? You just changed your mind overnight?" Hugo rubbed his eyes and yawned.

Craig sat stick-straight on the couch, "Can we discuss this as a group first? Since when were you in charge, Virgil?"

"I think all of us are in agreement that leaving is in our best interests. Sorry, Craig, my boy..." Chuck spoke up softly.

Tears brimmed in Big Dipper's eyes, "I can see the stars again... space... so much space."

Chell sat in silence, thinking. Brooding. Did she really want to leave? Where was everyone going to go...?

Virgil clapped his hands again, "Alright, we leave in two hours! Grab everything you want to bring and follow us. Craig, if you want to stay down here no one is forcing you to leave. But, think it over... okay?" he winked and trotted away.

For the next hour the group sat in silence, taking in this new turn of events.

And Chell had to wonder, _What would they do about Wheatley?_

* * *

 _Departure Time-_

The portal gun was her only possession, and it was really a stretch to claim that it was hers.

Chell turned it over, examining the fantastic device while deep in thought.

"I would... probably leave that behind. Um, if I were you," Glados spoke up from behind Chell.

She turned to the pale woman, _'I already decided to leave it behind. I don't need the government hounding me for scientific information I don't know...'_ she shrugged and set the device down carefully.

 _'What are you going to do once we get back up there?'_ Chell inquired finally.

Glados looked away, "I'm not leaving for the surface if that's what you're asking. I belong in Aperture. It's where I want to stay," she hesitated, "But I'm not going to... you know... do any more human testing. Humans aren't as interesting as robots anyway," she smiled lightly, "They're quite bothersome."

Chell got to her feet, _'What about Wheatley?'_

The other woman's expression darkened slightly, "He should be easy to take on with all of us. His control of the mainframe was... haphazard at best. And..." she looked at Chell solemnly, "I'll let him go. You do with him as you wish, Chell."

Chell couldn't help but smile; Glados had come a long way.

 _'You won't kill him?'_ she joked.

"No."

 _'Not even a little bit of torture?'_

"Is that what you want?" Glados asked seriously.

Chell smacked her lightly, _'Just testing your resolve is all. Let's go.'_

They met up with the rest of the group, save for Craig who had opted to stay behind. Chell felt a twinge in her chest at the thought of being alone in Lower Aperture forever. _Well if that's what he truly desires..._

"We finally get to use the hatch!" Big Dipper jumped up and down with excitement.

"Let's hope it still works," Rick muttered under his breath.

Indeed, the hatch was enormous. It covered the ceiling of the vast cavern they had entered. A metal alcove with a switch was to the right of the group, while another switch lay at the end of a thin catwalk that lead to the opposite end of the huge cavern. Below them was nothing but darkness.

Another catwalk protruded from the other side of the cavern and led to an elevator that would supposedly bring them up through the hatch once it was open.

"We need two people to activate the hatch. Aperture protocol," Glados stated matter-of-factly and strode fearlessly across the catwalk that creaked underfoot. She stood next to the switch on the opposite side and shouted, "We need to flip the switch within three seconds of each other! Hit it in three, two-"

Rick stood poised to flip the switch on their side of the cavern while they all held their breath in anticipation.

"-ONE!"

The switches flipped. A siren immediately started wailing and lights flashed, creating a hypnotic display across the rock face of the cavern. They all covered their ears with grins while the hatch started to slowly open, revealing a black abyss above.

 _This is it. We're leaving._

They were going to see the sunlight again after four years. Longer for some.

Virgil started across the catwalk and motioned everyone forward, "We need to get to the other side, people. C'mon, aren't you excited?"

"Stop!"

Virgil stopped in his tracks and motioned for everyone to stay put.

Chell frowned at Glados, _'What's wrong?'_

Glados held up a small radio-like device with a single button, "Back up, Virgil. Get off the catwalk," she spoke unwaveringly.

Virgil frowned and ignored her instructions, "What are you talking about? What's this about, Glados?"

"Once I press this button then the catwalk will collapse. It's an in-built safety measure," she spoke with more authority, "And I _am_ going to press it. Get off the catwalk, you _moron_."

Chell shivered, no... no... this wasn't supposed to happen. What did that woman think she was doing?

Glados scoffed, "Don't give me that look. As if I would ever team up with you people... I needed to get you to activate the hatch, and that's it. You can stay down here and rot for eternity for all I care," she smiled sadistically.

"You're actually going to leave us here? Why not let us escape?" Rick yelled desperately.

Hugo snorted, "She's a witch of a woman and always will be... I told you so, you were all fools to fall for her-"

Chell smacked him on the head as a way to unleash her pent-up rage, _'How dare you. How dare you lie to us like this,'_ she kept her words between her and Glados alone. _'I actually trusted you... I_ forgave _you.'_ Her lips trembled and she clenched her fists. _'So please...'_

 _'Please tell me this is your idea of a joke, Glados.'_

Please.

Glados stiffened, "I'm giving you one last chance, Virgil. Get off that catwalk."

Virgil stepped forward bravely, "I don't believe you... drop the device and we'll forget this even happened."

"Oh I certainly won't-" Ray spluttered as Chuck clapped his hands over Ray's mouth.

"I'm giving you a chance, so you had better take it before I change my mind," Glados trembled imperceptibly.

Virgil startled as Big Dipper cried out, "NO! YOU'RE LYING! EUROPA, _PLEASE_ -" he dashed forward toward the catwalk and Chell reached out to grab him.

Glados' stoic expression fell into panic and she pressed the button.

The cavern rang with the explosions as both sides of the catwalk were blown from their hinges.

They detached in slow motion as Chell grabbed a fistful of Big Dipper's shirt, hauling him back onto the rock face where the group was huddled.

And they all watched unable to even make even a sound, as Virgil with an expression of complete surprise, plunged into the abyss.

For a moment there was nothing but shocked silence.

Then tears. Big Dipper dropped to his knees, screaming in agony, "You killed him! You KILLED VIRGIL! AUGH-" Chell slipped the hysterical boy protectively into her arms and stared across at Glados, who watched without any expression at all.

 _'Get out.'_

Glados slipped away in silence, riding the elevator up into the ever-present blackness. _How fitting._

Chell took in the sight of her friends' sudden grief, their bodies trembling as they tried to hold back the onslaught of emotions. Big Dipper was the only one openly crying, bawling in Chell's arms.

Rick crouched down low and placed his hat over his heart, tears dripping down his face, "I'm... I'm sorry. We should have stayed put... We were so _stupid_."

Chell then let her own tears run freely, mourning the loss of her friend... and the friend she never had.

* * *

 _Hi guys! I hope this chapter turned out alright. Sometimes scenes just play out better in your head than on paper... :) This ended up being very heavy. O_o I'm also afraid I may have missed some grammar issues, so feel free to let me know if you catch anything._

 _Fun fact: Europa is covered in around 10-15 miles thick of pure ice. Super cool._

 _Anyway, I'll guiltily admit that I was procrastinating on other more important projects today and ended up writing this instead, hahaha. Enjoy! :D_

 _-Moe_


	28. Chapter 28

Glados collapsed against the back of the elevator and shook, finally releasing the emotions she had carefully controlled during her getaway act.

 _Control yourself. These recent displays of emotion are ridiculous._

She leaned her head against the back of the elevator and closed her eyes, attempting to ignore the unwanted presence beside her.

Lira cleared her throat, "That was easier than I thought it would be! I actually believed that it might take additional persuasion to keep them back," she glanced at Glados with a smirk, "But it seems your friends already had a healthy fear of you."

Glados' heart dropped slightly and she bit back a snarky reply, replacing it with silence. She didn't feel like having a chit chat with this woman.

However, Lira spoke the truth: Chell and the others believed every word. Glados hoped it meant that she was a really good actor.

 _Why do you care what they think?_

 _They're pathetic._

 _They don't matter._

 _They were all waiting for a good reason to hate you again anyway._

"So why do I care...?" Glados spoke softly.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," she looked up at the tall Japanese woman, her scientific curiosity piqued, "How did you manage to keep them all fooled? I didn't even notice when you switched from clone Virgil to the illusion."

The illusion that fell to his death.

Lira brushed dust off her coat, "I've been doing this sort of thing my entire life. It was a piece of cake compared to missions I've taken in the past. Don't worry about how I did it; just be glad that it worked."

Glad.

Of course.

* * *

Virgil sat in the corner of the shared glass prison, silently studying his anti-deviation handcuffs while the Englishman talked up a storm. It vaguely occurred to him that Wheatley was having a conversation with someone. Probably with him, but who was paying attention?

"Oi, are you listening to me?"

Virgil averted his attention from the irritating anti-deviation handcuffs to his equally irritating cell mate.

"Nope."

Wheatley huffed and sat cross-legged on the cot, "Well you could at least pretend," he pouted, "I was asking about Chell."

Virgil narrowed his eyes, "You're a real piece of work, you know that?"

Wheatley adjusted his cracked glasses self-consciously, "I know- I know I am..." he fidgeted his handcuffs, "But I'm really glad. I heard them say that she was alive."

A moment of silence.

"And Glados too, but I'm not sure that I feel as happy about that one-"

"You really should learn when to close that big English mouth of yours," Virgil sighed.

Wheatley ignored him, "Man alive, do you know what that woman would do to me if she was in charge again? She would keep me alive for centuries in order to torture me as slowly as she could. And after that, she would launch me into space and record my cold, suffocating death!" Wheatley waved his arms emphatically, stretching out on the cot and closing his eyes.

Virgil refrained from commenting, opting for an eye-roll instead. This guy.

 _Where I'm from men don't try to murder women while on a power trip._

Cave Johnson's image flashed in his mind.

 _Well, most men._

Chell and Glados hadn't given them all the details on what had happened, but he had gleaned enough to know that both women despised Wheatley. Virgil didn't really need to know any more than that.

After Virgil had come to, he had found himself stuck in a glass cage with the "moron" (Glados had insisted he was and Virgil found no reason to argue in this case). Shortly after introducing themselves, the two, still in their glass prison, had been whisked away to another darker laboratory chamber.

The new chamber was older, almost untouched. In it hung a huge black and white machine from the ceiling, completely motionless. What made the two men really nervous, however, was the chair underneath, covered in straps and strange machinery.

It looked like a torture chamber.

The large metal door to the chamber slid open with a loud grating noise, old with disuse. Virgil and Wheatley sat up attentively as Lira entered the room, followed by a shorter figure.

"Glados!" Wheatley squeaked with fear.

 _Where are the others?_ Virgil glanced around hopefully, yet the door closed behind the two and nobody else came.

"Hey, hey, if this is some k-kind of plan to torture me for information, it- it's not going to work! Are you listening? I'm not scared of you!" Wheatley pounded on the glass hysterically.

Lira glanced at the glass cage with mild amusement, "If you're trying to say something we can't hear you. I sound-proofed the chamber so Doug wouldn't have to listen to your constant rambling."

At the sound of his name, Douglas Rattmann stood up from a dark corner in the room, surprising Virgil. He hadn't even realized that the man was still there.

Rattmann inched forward with trepidation, reacting fearfully to Glados' presence.

Glados' face scrunched slightly at the sight of him, "It's the Rat. I'm impressed; I wasn't aware that you were still alive," she glanced at Virgil quickly, "First a ragtag group of boys in the dungeon, and a rat in my pipes. Is there anyone else in this facility that I was unaware of?"

Virgil studied the girl as she stood next to Lira. Lira made an imposing, authoritative figure and made the shorter, paler girl look meek in comparison. Glados' voice wasn't in her words; she just looked tired.

Glados looked around the dark chamber warily, "I don't think I recognize this chamber. You said you needed assistance with old Aperture research, but I don't see a computer terminal in here."

Lira ignored Glados and motioned to Rattmann, "Prep the machinery, please, Doug," she turned to Glados with a fake smile, "Oh this is definitely the place we need to be, sweetie. You might not recognize it now, but it'll become clear in a little while."

Glados appeared to bristle at Lira's tone, then got busy studying the giant machine hanging from the ceiling. "That... I've never seen it before," her voice wavered slightly.

The machine whirred to life as Rattmann fiddled with the weird torture chair.

"Not with those eyes, no," Lira poked Glados' head, who suddenly appeared fearful of the whirring machinery.

"You said you needed my help, not that you were going to torture information out of me," Glados stepped back as Lira laid an iron grip on her arm.

Lira clicked her tongue chidingly, "My dear, if I was going to torture you for information I would have saved me the time and put your friend in that chair. Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit..." she started to drag Glados, who tried to squirm away.

Virgil got to his feet, "Wait a second! Don't hurt her! Lira, listen to me-"

"Mate, they can't hear you, remember?" Wheatley intervened with a surprisingly passive voice.

"What is that machine?" Virgil asked him seriously.

Wheatley shrugged, "I don't know. If Glados doesn't know then there's not much of a chance for me, now is there?"

He grit his teeth as Rattmann and Lira strapped Glados into the chair, who appeared to be gathering her every wit to appear as calm as possible.

She wasn't doing a very good job of it. Virgil suddenly felt a little sorry about turning off the emotion-dampening program in Glados' implant.

Lights flickered on all over the giant machine, and the chassis lit up high above them decorated with six individual letters, eliciting a gasp from Virgil. He knew exactly what this machine was... he had read about it in a file.

The letters spelled G.L.a.D.O.S.

 _Oh no no no..._

Virgil pounded on the glass desperately, "Wait! Wait! Don't turn that machine on! Please!"

They couldn't hear him of course.

He kicked violently against the glass, angry at his uselessness. "This machine-"

He hit the handcuffs against the glass, "-it killed my friend!" He sank to his knees in defeat.

 _It killed my friend Caroline._

He placed his head in his hands, "And I wasn't there to save her... I was stuck in a stasis chamber because of my own hopeful stupidity. Oh _please_..." he sank further to the ground and stopped when he heard a clang against the metal floor.

Something was banging around in his pockets. He probably should have checked those earlier. He never remembered what kind of tools he was carrying around.

He fished around his pockets with rising hopes, and instead pulled out a small black box.

 _Oh. The turret communication line. Useless._

Useless just like him.

* * *

Glados quelled her rising panic as Rattmann finished tightening the straps around her wrists. She couldn't believe the disheveled man was still alive. Out of all the genius scientists in the building, _he_ was the one to make it out and avoid her watchful eyes for four years. She almost admired his audacity... considering he had none.

" _Rat_ ," she hissed at him as he backed away, finished. He avoided her gaze and crept to the side out of her line of sight.

Lira patted Glados' hand in mock affection, "It's alright, this will be over before you know it! Does this feel familiar in any way, my dear girl?" she bent over and looked into Glados' eyes, searching for something.

Glados huffed, "No, of course not. I haven't seen this room or this machine in my entire life, and I am well aware of the goings on in _my_ facility," she emphasized. Her stomach twisted uncomfortably, however. Her body was going into fight or flight mode, pumping adrenaline in a way she wasn't familiar with.

 _Well, that's to be expected when you're strapped into an unknown machine._

Without missing a beat Lira swiped on her holo screen, throwing up images onto a larger viewing screen above them. "Well, then I suppose I'll provide you with a little more background. Does _this_ look familiar?"

The screen simply read " _The G.L.a.D.O.S. Project_ ".

Glados felt her body go cold, "What..." her eyes were wide, "What is that? Where did you get this?"

In answer Lira swiped again, revealing an image of Cave Johnson with his assistant Caroline Short. "What about that woman?" her eyes bored into Glados'.

Glados felt a flash of fear similar to what she had experienced in lower Aperture. Why? What was so frightening about that image?

"Her name was Caroline Short. She was Cave Johnson's right-hand woman for many years, she secretly headed many important projects, and-" Lira glanced at Glados knowingly, "-she had an incredibly rare deviation. In fact, if used as a DNA enhancer it killed anyone who tried to use it. Therefore, she became one of the most invaluable members of Aperture."

Glados didn't like where this was going.

"So, Glados, do you know how you managed to successfully inherit this deviation?"

Her mouth opened, but she had no reply.

Lira threw up more images on the screen, watching Glados' reaction attentively.

There were faces on the screen. Sixty-nine identical faces, all around three or four years of age. Every one had pale skin and white hair done up in varying ways. All had the familiar sharp yellow eyes. None of them smiled.

"Sixty-nine clones. Sixty-eight of them dead at the age of four because the scientists in Aperture still didn't know how to stabilize the intelligence-enhancing gene. That is, until scientist Henry Cadwin perfected the implant that saved the sixty-ninth clone," Lira smiled, "Of course, you already knew all of this."

Glados hadn't.

She couldn't pull her eyes away from the dozens of faces covering the screen.

 _That's my face... that's me..._

She started to shake again, her breathing becoming erratic, "No... I'm not a clone. I'm not..."

Lira pretended to look confused, "You've been here your entire life, haven't you?"

Glados felt ill. The faces all stared into her, accusing. All like Caroline's face, but so much younger. How could she have been so blind?

She snapped, "What do you _want_ from me?" She blinked away tears that threatened to fall.

Lira frowned, back to business, "I need redacted information from you that only Caroline knew. I was on a mission to retrieve it when I decided to throw in the towel because it wasn't here. However, I was lucky to learn about you. The scientists must have hid this file from you on purpose... they knew just how _dangerous_ you really are," Lira stroked Glados' hair lightly.

Glados attempted to move her head away, "You're kidding. I may have that woman's DNA, but I don't have her memories!"

"I think you do," Lira tapped the implant lightly. "I learned that this thing has many useful purposes, such as a mind stabilizer, an emotional dampening program, and of course, a memory dampener. However, I believe that a simple little program like that can be overcome when under duress."

Glados' heart nearly stopped. "W-well, I don't remember anything. I swear I don't know anything about that woman-"

Without warning, Lira flicked at the hologram, eliciting a screeching noise from the machine above Glados.

"What are you doing? _What are you doing?_ " Glados couldn't keep the panic out of her voice.

Lira silently stooped over and strapped a metallic, rectangular mask onto Glados' head, eliciting a cry from the girl.

 _"N-"_

 _NO!_

* * *

 _"NO!"_

 _"PLEASE! I don't want this! I don't want this! Get it off of me, please!"_

 _"Caroline, it's alright; it'll be over before you know it!"_

* * *

 _"Caroline, what in blazes do you mean?"_

 _"I'm leaving. Virgil has been missing for months and I_ know _you had something to do with it, Cave," Caroline hissed._

 _"Caroline, please, Virgil is alright," Cave tried to calm his uncharacteristically angry assistant._

 _"Then prove it! Tell me he isn't in one of those stasis pods!"_

 _"I-"_

 _"Tell me you aren't kidnapping Deviants! Tell me Aperture hasn't devolved into slavery. I'm leaving._ Immediately _. Here is my letter of resignation."_

 _Cave rose from his chair, his face a cloud of thunder, "I Refuse."_

 _Caroline remained silent, watching him warily. She couldn't trust this man anymore._

 _She whispered, "What I'm leaving behind is enough, isn't it? The Portal gun? What about the fact that I saved your life when you were dying from moon poisoning?"_

 _That broke him. Cave sat heavily in his chair, rubbing his forehead wearily. "Caroline... My dear Caroline. I-" he glanced at the stack of files on his desk, an idea popping into his brain._

 _"Fine, I'll let you leave on one condition," he promised._

 _Caroline crossed her arms, "... yes?"_

 _"The G.L.a.D.O.S. Project. I want to use your brilliant mind for it."_

 _Caroline stepped backward and balked, unable to contain her shock. "Excuse me? But-"_

 _"I won't back off on this, Caroline. You know how important your deviation is to Aperture! If we download your genius brain into G.L.a.D.O.S. then you will be free to go! It's a win-win scenario!" Cave flourished his arms, praising his own genius._

 _She fidgeted with her neck scarf, trying to keep her cool, "It isn't finished."_

 _Cave rolled his eyes, "Of course it is. Don't worry your pretty little head over it, Caroline... Do you want to leave or not? It's your choice."_

* * *

 _PLEASE! I DON'T WANT THIS!_

* * *

"I DON'T WANT THIS!"

Lira watched with fascination as Glados grew more and more panicked, her terror evident in her screams.

"CAVE! _PLEASE!_ "

Jackpot.

She had to yell over the sound of the mechanical screeching and Glados' wailing, "Doug! Turn it off! I think we did it!"

Doug switched off the machine hurriedly, snatching the metal headpiece from Glados' head.

"Retrieve the memories while they're still fresh," Lira snapped at him.

Rattmann obeyed, swallowing his pity for the terrorized girl strapped to the machine. They had never actually intended to attempt the download... they knew that the G.L.a.D.O.S. Project was a failure. Cave Johnson himself had shut it down after Caroline's death.

They just wanted to scare her enough to get Caroline's memories flowing again.

"Sorry, Glados, hold on for a minute," he whispered as he placed his hands over her tear-streaked face.

Glados cried out hysterically, " _NO!_ LET ME GO-"

And Douglas Rattmann found himself deep in the mind of Caroline Short.

* * *

 _January 6, 1973-_

"Turn off the machine!" Cave howled over the screaming machinery and panicked voices of the scientists. Caroline's cries had ceased nearly a minute earlier.

"You idiots! I'll fire each and every one of you! Turn it off!" Cave thundered.

The G.L.a.D.O.S. machine writhed uncontrollably above their heads, knocking multiple scientists off the balcony.

"We're trying, sir!"

Then the machine started to scream in a terrifying way: In the voice of a woman.

Two hours, six injured scientists, and a deadly gas leak later Cave sat at the foot of the chair where Caroline's body still sat. The G.L.a.D.O.S. machine had been forever silenced above.

Caroline wasn't dead, but in a vegetative state. Her mind was just... gone.

He had never intended for it to end like this.

Cave broke into tears, kissing Caroline's hands and apologizing over and over again to what was now just an empty shell. He had instructed the scientists to leave him alone with her and brainstorm a way to save her.

He had much to reflect on.

 _Where did I go wrong...?_

Virgil. Virgil was when Cave had really snapped. The thought of turning on one of his closest friends had never even occurred to him. The weight of what he had done had weighed on him, and he took out his madness on Caroline.

Caroline who had held the weight of his world.

Why had he been so stupid?

She was the most intelligent wom- no, person he had ever met. And he was the one who had ended her because of his own selfish greed.

"I should have listened to you, Caroline. When did I stop following your advice?" he gazed up at her soulless eyes. No acknowledgment. Not a blink.

Nothing.

A tear dripped down his cheek, "I loved you too much to let you go."

Hours later his head scientists came together with a plan to save Caroline's deviation.

"You want to _clone_ her?" Cave was dumbstruck.

It was madness. Even for them.

"The theory is sound," insisted one of them, a pudgy pale male who Cave didn't remember well. "Think of it: If it's her deviation that you're trying to save and others cannot utilize it by enhancements, then the only logical way is to inherit it. We can keep her body alive for as long as we need to perfect the process."

Cave glanced around the room, gauging reactions from the other men.

 _All of them, men. Caroline would have had the perfect solution. A genius one, I'm sure._

One of them nodded, "It'll work, Sir. It may take time, but..."

Cave sighed and bowed his head slightly. "Do it."

It became evident over the following years that the cloning process was going to be more difficult than they had at first thought. Each clone created had very little pigment (to which the scientists' couldn't agree on a cause) and every single one died by the age of four, screaming from nightmares and agonizing pain.

After the first three Glados clones (a name they had all decided was fitting... Cave flat out refused to name the clones after Caroline) Cave had isolated himself from the project. When he watched the life fade from their small eyes, he could only see Caroline die out again and again.

Over the years he visited her stasis pod, waiting for the day that she would sit up and smile at him.

To honor her he secretly had Virgil's pod removed from the assembly, burying his friend deep in lower Aperture. He couldn't let him go... he couldn't get himself to face his friend. But maybe one day someone else would.

At the ripe age of 74, Cave Johnson passed away, his ashes shot into deep space.

And Caroline continued on.

* * *

 _Oh my gosh, guys. I am sooooooo super sorry about the ridiculously long hiatus! I had never intended to go on hiatus, but you know, life happens, haha. I had also intended to make this a longer chapter, but I'm tired and I've been writing all day, so I hope it turned out okay! I want to get this story finished (because we are nearing the end already, wow). And it's been almost an entire year since I started posting it on here! Absolutely crazy._

 _Anyway, I'm sorry about all the angst. o_o_

 _I've also posted Lira's character sheet on my DeviantART account! (Like I previously mentioned if you wanna see art for this fic go to dA and type my username LOSHCOMIXFAN into the search bar. I have a folder dedicated specifically to this fic). Hope you like her! Let me know what you think!_

 _Reviews welcome! Thanks again for all your patience! You guys are amazinggggg ^-^_

 _-Moe_


	29. Chapter 29

"I can't believe you were all going to leave without me!"

"Chester, dude. You're a motionless turret who annoys the crap out of everyone. What did you seriously expect?" Rick poked the defective turret, smudging his lens.

"Yeah, be grateful Craig took pity on you and dragged you in here," Ray spoke up.

"Naw, Craig was just lonely because we were leaving."

"Shut it."

An aluminum cup went flying past their heads and smashed into the wall, silencing everyone.

"I can't believe this!" Big Dipper shrieked, his face red and puffy, "You're all just... _pretending_ that nothing's wrong!"

"Dipper-"

"He's dead! Virgil is dead!" his voice rose in anguish. "And she-"

Chell pulled the sobbing boy into her arms, trying to calm him. She didn't know what to do, either.

"We're all still... taking it in," Rick spoke up eventually. "We didn't mean to upset you, buddy."

Chester buzzed loudly and Hugo pushed it off the table in annoyance, "Do you _mind_?"

"Gah! That wasn't me, I swears it!" Chester defended himself, "Please put me back."

"No, you're obnoxious," Hugo huffed and ignored everyone else's mutterings in response.

Chester buzzed again and Hugo stood up to kick the downed turret.

"Hold on!" the old turret cried out. He buzzed several more times in sequence and the room was silent, watching him curiously.

"You said Virgil was dead, right?" the turret finally spoke up.

"Yeah, wh-"

"Then why is his communicator buzzing me?"

Everyone looked wildly around the room in search of the little box that Virgil used to communicate with Chester.

"Who's using it?" Rick growled, "It's not funny."

Hugo put his hands in the air, "It's not me, I swear!"

"Quiet, please," Chester announced and started beeping more sequences.

Silence.

Suddenly Chester's red light started flashing erratically as he received an influx of beeps.

"It's him!" Chester cried out.

"Don't be stupid you little robot, I'll kill you!" Rick picked the thing up and shook it menacingly.

"Gaahh! I'm not lying... it has to be him! The comms are random, so I think he's beeping me on accident. He does it all the time."

Chell jumped to her feet. _'That's impossible.'_

"We saw him die!" Ray pounded on the table. "Maybe a wild animal took the box and is pressing random buttons."

"Please stop shaking me, I'm trying to communicate here!" Chester barked, "He's not responding. I don't think he notices. But..." he trailed off.

" _Fact:_ This turret is faulty. We shouldn't even be listening to this piece of scrap," Craig remarked.

"I'm not faulty! I'm really receiving a signal from Virgil's comm!" the turret was indignant. "The signal is coming from far above us!"

Everyone froze.

 _Above?_

Could it be...?

She looked around and noticed that everyone had come to the same conclusion. Had Glados taken the comm system with her? How?

What in the world was going on?

 _'We need to get up there,'_ Chell decided.

Rick jumped to his feet and donned his hat in one swift motion, "I'm with you, there, chicky."

"You don't think he's really alive, do you?" Craig frowned dubiously. "This could be some stupid trick by Glados to get us up top and turn us into test subjects."

"If that were the case then wouldn't she have taken us with her?" Ray retorted. "There's something weird going on..."

True.

Chell grabbed her portal gun and stood in front of the group, _'I'm going up. If you want to join me or stay, decide now. But I need to know what's going on and who's behind this.'_

"And you're gonna get up there with that thing?" Hugo smirked at her, arms crossed.

 _'Yes.'_

"Then I see no problem here. Let's go," Rick stood and together they led the group. "Onwards and upwards, people!"

* * *

Once Lira and Rattmann left the room, Virgil took his chance and dropped the handcuffs onto the floor, eliciting a shocked cry from Wheatley.

"What? How did you? When did you-"

"I was working on them as quickly as I could so I could get Glados out of that machine..." Virgil kicked the cuffs away, "Thankfully they didn't turn the thing on all the way. I wasn't quick enough."

"B-but," Wheatley stammered.

"I'm an engineer... this is sort of my thing," Virgil phased through the barrier's walls with ease and left Wheatley inside. On the outside Virgil could no longer hear Wheatley's rambling voice, but he could watch the guy get himself worked up over the fact that Virgil hadn't freed him. He could wait.

Virgil tentatively made his way over to Glados and sucked in his breath. She was slumped over in the chair, the straps around her arms and legs keeping her in place. Her hair covered her face and she trembled violently, her breathing erratic.

He went to touch her and stopped when she spoke, "You... you _knew_."

His hand dropped to his side and he grimaced, "I knew a little... yeah," he admitted. He leaned over and pushed the hair from her face, "I was in complete shock the moment I saw you down there. You look just like her. Minus the lack of color-" he stopped again at the way her face scrunched up in pain.

"I'm sorry, let me get you out of this thing," utilizing his deviation he lifted her straight out of the device into his arms.

"P-put me down you oaf..." she pushed against him feebly and he begrudgingly set her down. She staggered and he went to catch her, but she held her hand out again, "I'm fine. Don't touch."

"Glados..."

"I don't want to talk to you," she hissed.

"Do you remember anything?"

"I said-" she pitched forward and landed on her hands and knees, stifling a sob. Virgil decided to ignore her and pulled her into his arms in what he hoped was a comforting way. She gripped his coat and sobbed into his chest while he stroked her soft, white hair.

She eventually pulled herself together enough to speak, "It's not fair... why does this thing," she pointed to her implant, "-get to determine who I am?"

"It doesn't—"

"It does!" her voice rose sharply, "I'm worse than a _test subject_! I've never even left the facility before! It never bothered me, but now it... does."

She pulled away from him and shrunk into herself. Any time he spoke it seemed to make things worse, so Virgil opted to remove his coat and wrap it around her small frame instead. He sat beside her and waited in silence.

* * *

"So how do you suppose you're gonna get us over there, huh?" Hugo gestured across the void where 'Virgil' had previously fallen. "The hatch has to be opened from both sides."

Chell gave him a deadpanned look and shot a portal straight across the void where the lever was. A second behind them.

"Idiot," Craig remarked to a reddening Hugo.

"Then why didn't we do that in the first place?" Hugo stuttered.

"Because there didn't seem to be much _point_ in doing it before," Rick flicked Hugo on his bald head, eliciting an irritated cry.

"How _dare_ you-"

 _'Let's go,'_ Chell interjected. _'No time to waste.'_

The hatch lifted with much less fanfare than before and the elevator swooped down. They stared at the tiny, rickety thing in concern.

"Looks like we're taking more than one trip," Ray announced, "I call firsties!"

"Nope!" declared Big Dipper with a proud grin, "Let's all go at once!" Big Dipper concentrated on making everyone lighter as they all held onto the metal death trap.

"Are you sure you can maintain this, Charlie?" Chuck asked, nervously hanging over the edge.

"Yep!"

When they reached the top minutes later, they breathed a collective sigh of relief. _'Alright, ask Chester to start tracking the comm's location from here,'_ Chell instructed.

Rick conveyed her orders and Chester immediately set to work.

"This is incredible..." Lira breathed.

Doug had to admit that it was genius, but that was to be expected. It was almost too much to take in.

He took a peek at Lira's face as she scrolled through the information he had put together from Glados'/Caroline's memories. He had felt a bit bad about it, despite everything that Glados had put them through.

Doug had been on the run from Glados for years, frightened beyond measure by the things she would do to him if he had been caught. But when he was up close to her she was nothing but a... _girl_. A terrified one, at that.

What had changed?

Lira snickered to herself as she finished up her speed-reading and patted Doug on the head. "This is fantastic, Douglas. Sometimes I forget that you're a scientist as well."

 _Thank you?_

She gave him a genuine smile that warmed his heart. Softly, she spoke, "Do you want me to test it on you...? I absolutely won't if you say no, but..." she looked deep in thought, "It might make life easier for you."

Doug was tempted. It had been the first thing to cross his mind when he first heard about the project from Lira.

He shook his head. "It's too late for me and it may just make things worse. Maybe I'll change my mind later..." he rubbed his hands through his hair. As if.

He was too scared to go through with it and he knew it.

* * *

"We should get out of here before they come back," Virgil prodded Glados gently. No response. She didn't even blink.

"Glados..."

"And where do you suppose we go?" she asked tightly. "Back down? Up?"

"The others have to be worried sick-"

"The _others_ think you're dead," she snapped and stayed silent for a moment. "You can go, but this is where I'll stay... it's how it should be."

She swiveled her head and looked at Wheatley in his glass cage accusingly, "But do me a favor and take that trash with you."

Wheatley looked indignant and said something in response, but again, no one could hear.

"Save your breath, moron," she growled.

Virgil opened his mouth to speak, but his voice was drowned about by a cracking, metallic noise that resounded around the entire chamber. A hole about four feet wide opened up above Wheatley's cage and terrifying screeching sounded from it.

"What the-" Virgil started.

A flash of white and blue came flying out of the hole and smashed right into the cage, cracking the top. A second unknown object flew out immediately and shattered the entire thing.

Wheatley crawled away, spluttering about robots trying to murder him.

"It's Orange and Blue..." Glados said wonderingly.

"Who-?"

Another being, followed by a delighted human scream, came careening into the room and, instead of flying straight into the glass ruins, floated safely upward.

"Virgil! It's Virgil!" Big Dipper pointed at them below, waving with glee. "You're alive!"

An influx of bodies came flying out, following Big Dipper's lead and he caught each one so as to avoid a horrible mess.

Hugo was the last to follow and Big Dipper let him fall straight onto Wheatley.

"Oops."

Virgil stood, mouth agape. Glados continued to sit and watch in awe and bewilderment.

Once Big Dipper released everyone, they came all at once, wrapping Virgil in a tight group hug.

"You're alive! You're alive!"

"Chester was right!"

Chester? Glados was unfamiliar with the name...

She scooted away in horror, avoiding all the excited people gathering near her. She was glad to be ignored and sincerely hoped that it stayed that way.

 _'Glados.'_

She reactively pulled Virgil's coat tightly around her, shielding her from Chell. But Chell was having none of it.

The woman broke away from the group who was conversing all at once and stood in front of the cowering Glados. She kneeled down.

 _'What's going on? I want the truth this time,'_ she was serious, but her eyes showed concern.

Glados opened her mouth to respond, but nothing came.

What was going on...?

 _Too much._

 _The Rat is still alive. An angry woman named Lira was here and forcibly took information from me that I didn't even know I had. Apparently I'm a clone of a woman who is long dead and my emotions and memories are all controlled by an implant in my head and-_

Chell seemed to notice her distress and put a comforting hand on Glados' shoulder, steadying her.

 _'When you're ready,'_ she finally spoke.

Glados breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, too tired to speak. Too emotionally drained. What a strange feeling.

Atlas and P-Body crowded around Glados, chirping with glee, almost evoking a smile from the woman. Almost.

"Look at these cool robots we found!" Big Dipper came rushing over.

"I'm nothing more than chopped liver," Chester lamented from the floor where he had been abandoned.

Wheatley stood up and waved his handcuffed arms around desperately, "Can someone please get these things off of me?" he whined.

"Don't bother," a voice spoke up from the entrance.

Everyone's heads swiveled to look at the unfamiliar voice and found two figures standing in the doorway.

Glados recognized the Rat, but the other woman was different. _Lira must have changed her form again._

The dark, petite woman snapped her fingers and everyone fell motionless, unable to even breathe.

"Hold tight for a moment while we secure you all," she smirked. Together she and the Rat dragged each one of them into the middle of the room, surrounding the giant G.L.a.D.O.S machinery. A force field dropped, effectively trapping them all in.

Lira snapped again and immediately shifted back into her natural form. "There, that's much better."

They all started coughing and sucking in air, their faces regaining normal color after being frozen in time.

Virgil stood, breathing deeply, "You think this will really-" he pushed his hands against the field, obviously believing that he would make it through, and was pushed back. "Huh...?"

"I didn't have time to get more cuffs for you all, but Aperture is full of all kinds of anti-deviant measures. You should be more careful," Lira taunted. "This force field was designed to keep groups under control."

Lira glided over to them smoothly, "This is splendid timing, actually," she purred. "All these Deviants right here in one place. Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. In fact, your lives are going to be so much easier from now on."

Glados didn't like the sound of Lira's tone and the resonance of the field was making her feel ill.

"What- what's she going to do to us?" Ray's eyes were wide with worry.

Chell sat quietly, unable to say a word.

Glados closed her eyes and concentrated, focusing on all the information that the Rat had taken from her, sifting through it. She gasped and opened her eyes. Of course.

"She wants to..." Glados struggled, her tongue heavy and her voice thick.

"Glados?"

She felt hands grab her as she tilted sideways and heard muffled voices. Nothing was working. She was slipping...

 _She wants to..._

* * *

Wheatley watched Glados pass out and the others rush to help her. It was a shocking sight if he was being honest. They actually cared about what happened to that witch?

"Her deviation is too intertwined in her neurological network," Virgil snapped at Lira, "Let her out of here. She can't hurt you!"

Lira made a 'tsk' sound and ignored him, "I already got what I wanted from her. Besides, if I let her free to do as she pleased the girl would be a genuine threat. I have no reason to let her live," she replied coldly. Her words made Wheatley go cold; She was terrifying.

"But-" she continued, "If you all act like good boys and girls and do everything I tell you without resistance, I'll consider it."

Lira pointed straight at Chell, "I want the woman first."

The group erupted into anger and threats all directed toward Lira. Wheatley's heart sunk.

"What do you want her for?" he was surprised at himself for speaking out. The others seemed to be too, as they fell silent.

"You shouldn't act so concerned," Lira smiled, "I'm trying to free you from your burden!"

Burden?

Wheatley's eyes widened. "Our deviations?"

Lira smirked and cocked her head. Rattmann simply fidgeted nervously.

"You want to take our deviations?" a guy with a stetson hat spoke up.

"I like my deviation!" Big Dipper shouted.

"Human society was _ruined_ by deviations!" Lira thundered. "How do you think it is you all ended up in Aperture?"

"You're nothing but slaves. We all are," her eyes narrowed and she stepped up to the field. "I'm going to free you. Just watch."

A moment of silence.

"Chell can't speak," Virgil spoke up. "But... her deviation allows her to communicate with us. You want to take it away," he gestured at her.

Chell merely folded her arms, giving away nothing.

"How is that going to free her?" Virgil challenged.

Wheatley was shocked. Chell had a deviation? She hadn't communicated with him before... He felt a pang of guilt again and tried to swallow it down.

Lira sighed and closed her eyes, "So small-minded... This isn't about the benefit of one or two people. This is about saving humanity. You must learn to think bigger."

"So, Chell, is it? I want you with me," she motioned for Chell to stand. Chell did so.

"Wait!" Wheatley was just as surprised as everyone else when he shot to his feet, "I'll volunteer to go first!"

Lira's eyes narrowed at him, calculating. He adjusted his glasses nervously.

"I- I'll go first," his voice quieted. "Um, I owe her," he glanced at Chell, who was also scrutinizing him. No one seemed to disagree with him. He thought he saw a nod or two.

Wonderful.

"Fine," Lira conceded, "Come with me, blondie."

Wheatley swallowed his panic. What had he just volunteered for?

* * *

 _Wheatley has volunteered as tribute. Lol._

 _Anyway... I'm back, y'all! I felt really guilty about not touching this story for so long, so I decided to jump back into it yesterday. This chapter wasn't as long as I was hoping for, but it's something. I generally don't have this much time for writing, but I've been home sick for like, four days now and needed something else to do other than watch anime, ahaha._

 _Thank you all soooo much for your patience and kind reviews! You make me so happy! Please enjoy this chapter and continue to be patient with me. This will get finished, I promise. ^-^_

 _-Moe_


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